Butterflies and Hurricanes
by ilovenaley
Summary: Falling in love is never easy. But for Nathan and Haley, a set of unusual circumstances make falling for each other the most dangerous move they could ever make. AU, Naley.
1. Chapter 1

**AN – Okay, so yes, this is a new fic, but this one is slightly different than my others because this is actually written by myself and my lovely friend Rebecca (love of escapism).**

**Don't worry, we're both continuing to write our other fics, but we kind of got talking (as per usual) and we had this idea that we should try our hand at writing something together. Then this story came up, and we got a little bit excited about it and before you knew it, we had a prologue...**

**We're going to aim to update every 2 weeks, so the next update will be on Monday 12****th**** April.**

**Major thanks to Pam and Kristen for all their help.**

**All that's left for us to say is that we both hope you all really like it!**

**Prologue**

The misty, midnight air was shrouded in an eerie, heavy fog, so thick you could barely see your hands if you held them out in front of you. The sounds of sharp, shallow breaths filled the otherwise quiet air as Nathan stood next to a woman who was hunched over with her hands gripping fiercely onto her knees. She gasped desperately for air, her head frantically moving from left to right, scanning the area around her as she leaned her backside against the cold brick wall. Nathan recognised her instantly, he felt the warmth of familiarity radiate from her and tingle his skin, a stark contrast to the freezing temperature of the night. She sounded like she had been running, and Nathan wondered for a brief moment why his breathing was so calm when her breaths were so ragged. It didn't make sense; nothing here did.

However, before he could take the time to ponder that thought any longer, he was distracted by a deep, male voice coming from the right of where he was standing. His intuition told him that something dreadful was about to happen and his entire body tensed up while his heart began to beat wildly in his chest. There was a tension in the air, this palpable feeling which sent a shiver down his spine. There was clearly something wrong.

He heard the woman beside him murmur under her breath, and once again, he wondered what the hell was going on. He didn't know where he was and that thought scared him, he certainly didn't feel safe standing down what appeared to be an allyway against a very cold, damp wall. He felt as though they both shouldn't be here. He wanted to shout out to the woman to get herself somewhere more open, some place where he didn't feel like they were so trapped. He just wanted to take her home.

The woman glanced nervously to the right where the noise had come from and Nathan caught a brief glance at her beautiful face, catching a quick peek at the frightened look in her eyes. His stomach dropped instantly, because he knew that something bad was happening here. She looked scared, mortified even.

He saw her eyes widen briefly as he heard the faint sound of footsteps slap against the wet floor and in a flash, she pushed herself off the wall and ran in the opposite direction of where the footsteps had come from.

Without thinking twice, he followed her, wanting to make sure she was safe and find out who or what it was she was running from. He knew someone was chasing them because there was muffled shouting, and the slapping noise of footsteps behind him became heavier and quickened in their pace. She ran in a straight direction, which Nathan didn't think was very clever, and just as he was about to vocalise this, the woman made a sharp right turn and ran down a thinner artery in this weird maze of a place.

Nathan was having difficulty keeping up with her, she was running so fast. She was being cleverer about this hiding business now too, she was twisting and turning, doing her best to lose the person behind them and making it harder and harder for Nathan to follow her. Judging from the sounds of the footsteps which were getting more and more feint, it seemed to be working too. Eventually, the woman slowed down and pressed herself tightly against the wall. She was panting for breath and her hands were splayed against the damp brick, her fingers curled as if she wished she could crawl inside of it. She looked utterly terrified and the anger rushed through Nathan's veins, completely overwhelming him. He hated seeing her like this and he would do anything to protect her.

He listened carefully for what felt like an extremely long time, and eventually any noise, any footsteps or shouting, dissipated into nothing but silence. The woman's breaths had now calmed down completely and she was barely making a sound. The peace and quiet after the terror and franticness they'd just experienced was more than welcome, and Nathan felt like yelling into the air that they'd done it, they'd outrun whoever the hell they were running from.

He managed to contain himself though, and instead leaned his head back against the wall, feeling the brick press uncomfortably against his head and closed his eyes, savouring the quiet.

However, distant muffled cries, caused his eyes to flash open, and he glanced to where the woman had been only moments before, to find that nobody was there.

His stomach churned uncomfortably and he tried to follow the sounds of her whimpering. However, he was getting lost in this maze and couldn't seem to locate her. He was growing more and more panicked by the second, pressing against the walls angrily, wishing that he could find her, save her, take her away from this, even though he didn't really understand what was going on.

He continued to run with no clear destination in mind, not realising in his haste that his feet were making no sound as he kicked his way through puddles, not acknowledging the fact that when he opened his mouth to shout out at her, no noise was falling from his lips.

He eventually saw a street light shining at the end of one of the paths and he breathed a sigh of relief, because if he could just reach it, if he could get to a more open space he'd surely be able to find someone who could help him.

He ran quickly towards the yellow glow, the eerie silence making the distance seem that much longer. It seemed as though the end was miles away, not the mere hundred meters or so he'd first estimated.

But he continued to move along the alleyway, increasing his speed, wanting to get help as quickly as he could.

However, as the noise of a gunshot echoed through the air, he tripped up and fell onto the wet ground, his entire body sinking into a deep puddle. The puddle suddenly turned into an ocean of water and he could feel himself struggling for breath, the current of the murky water thrashing his body around as if he were as light as a feather. He battled against the force of the water, desperately searching for the surface, needing to go to her, to save her. But the water was too strong for him.

He eventually gave up trying to fight the water and relaxed his body, rapidly running out of oxygen. He desperately needed to breathe, and so giving in, he opened his mouth, inhaling deeply. He was surprised when he didn't get a mouthful of water and instead a hot gust of air burst into his mouth.

His eyes snapped open and he was slightly disorientated for a moment before he realised that once again he'd had the repetitive nightmare he so very much despised. His body was covered in sweat and his breathing was sharp and shallow. Needing the comfort from her, he reached his hand out across the mattress, expecting to be greeted with warm, soft skin, but all he was met with was cold sheets and an empty bed.

**AN – Okay, so there's the prologue...**

**We'd love to know what you think so do drop us a review.**

**Previews will be sent out soon so if you want a hint at what's going to happen in the next chapter, let us know in a review and we'll get it out to you ASAP.**

**Next update on Monday 12****th**** April :o)**


	2. Let Me Breathe

**AN – Thank you so much for all the lovely reviews of the last chapter. Sorry for confusing you all but things will become clear as the story progresses. **

**We wanted to say a few words to those of you without accounts and who didn't leave an email address so we couldn't respond personally. **Mazzy – **Thanks for the review, we're glad you're hooked and hope you enjoy the rest of the story.** BlueJean452 – **We are glad you love and hope you enjoy the update.** Madison – **We're glad you enjoyed the chapter, and pleased you're hooked, hope you enjoy the update.**

**We are really enjoying writing together and we hope you enjoy reading the story.**

**Chapter One - Let Me Breathe**

Are you so blind that you cannot see  
that I am suffocating?  
So let me breathe

Won't you please give me some air?

_The Hours – Let Me Breathe_

**Two Months Earlier**

The warm, summer breeze blew softly along the promenade, causing Haley's white sundress to rustle around her legs. She brought one of her hands up to tuck her long, dark hair behind her ears and glanced to the right, seeing the vast ocean spread out endlessly until somewhere on the horizon it merged with the clear, blue sky. She loved it here, especially in the summer when the sun would beat down, the sea would sparkle and the cafes would be full of patrons watching the world go by.

It was only when she heard a deep voice calling her name in her ear that she realised she had completely spaced out. She had been lost in her thoughts again and hadn't been listening to the conversation she was supposed to be engaged in.

"Haley, are you still there?"

"Yes, Daddy, I'm still here," Haley sighed as she continued her walk along the path following the beach, headed towards the harbour on the other side of town.

"Good, I thought the connection had gone for a second there. Now, I'm going to need you to come back here where I can keep a proper eye on you, there's too much risk you being out there in Europe on your own..."

"Daddy! I'm not coming back to America!" Haley interrupted with a huff as she walked past a busy restaurant filled to the brim with customers. Although the noise from the restaurant was extremely loud, she still heard the frustrated, angry voice from her father boom in her ear.

"What do you mean you're not coming to America? Of course you're coming to America."

Haley shook her head to herself, exasperated with this conversation already and her father had only had her full attention for a mere two seconds. "No, I'm not."

"You're going to do as I tell you, Haley. And don't you dare argue back with me."

His tone was getting more and more agitated with each word that left his mouth, but Haley was adamant that she wasn't going to let him just boss her around like he did his minions. Of course, she understood that her father was a man who held great power and respect, and he was also very dangerous too, but she wasn't going to let that faze her. "I'm not arguing back with you, I'm simply telling you that I'm staying right where I am."

"Haley, don't push me."

"Well don't tell me what to do then. I'm twenty-two years old, Dad! I'm not a child anymore. And just because there's been some 'crisis' or whatever, that doesn't give you the right to suddenly order me back to America after you chose to leave me here all those years ago," Haley argued back.

"You know why I did that, Haley. I didn't want you to get caught up in all the mess. I was... I still am trying to protect you. I've always had your best interests at heart and I know, despite what you've just said, that you know that."

"Yeah, well, did you ever think that maybe it would have been in my best interests to have my mom and dad around while I was growing up, instead of them being halfway around the world?" Haley responded bitterly. She hated acting like a spoiled brat, but she knew this was the one line of attack she had over her father. She could properly lay on the guilt trip, and if it managed to get her out of going back to America then she'd make sure that she milked it for all it was worth.

"Please, Princess, just do as I tell you."

His tone had softened now, just as she knew it would. Her father may not have been around while she was growing up but Haley still knew how to manipulate him. She still had him completely wrapped around her little finger; after all, she was still his Princess, in every sense of the word. "Daddy, I don't want to leave here," she responded in a quiet voice, meaning every word that fell from her mouth.

"Come home. Come back to Chicago, Haley."

The fact that her father had the audacity to call Chicago home really hit a nerve with Haley. How could she think of somewhere that she'd spent so little of her life as home? He'd palmed her off to her aunt and uncle here in France all those years ago under the pretence of making sure she was kept safe, so surely he'd rescinded the right to call her home as being back in Chicago? "America isn't my home and I'm not going to go back there," she replied forcefully, speaking every word slowly so her father knew that she was being serious and wasn't simply being difficult.

"For goodness sake, Haley! Please stop being so stubborn and just do as I tell you."

Haley could tell from the tone of his voice that he was getting increasingly furious and frustrated at her. She knew that if he were in front of her, his face would be covered in red blotches. His cheeks would be puffed out and he would be standing in a commanding, domineering way. If she were with him, she would probably admit defeat and give in to the argument, for when he got angry he was incredibly scary. But luckily for her, he was thousands of miles away and couldn't affect her in the same way over the telephone. "No I won't!" she responded, aware that she sounded like a petulant child but she honestly didn't care in that moment. She already knew what he would say next anyway…

"You know I could always have someone come and get you."

And as expected, he was now threatening her. She sighed heavily to herself. She shouldn't be surprised though because this was what her father did. Whatever he wanted, he made sure he got and he wasn't above cheating, stealing or manipulating to get it. She wanted to scream at him, but she knew that would get her nowhere and would only cause a scene. She glanced around at her surroundings, wishing she could make her father understand where she was coming from, and saw that she had just walked into the harbour at the end of the promenade. She was silent as she allowed her father to stew in his ferociousness for a couple of minutes, hoping that he would calm down somewhat and come to acknowledge why she didn't want to leave Europe.

She stared longingly at the huge yachts which filled the harbour, walking along the front and admiring their grandness. She would love to be able to just get on one of them and sail out into the blue, leaving her father and his problems behind. However, she didn't own a yacht here and so instead she found a bench and slumped down onto it, breathing out deeply as she did so.

She wasn't ungrateful for all that she'd had growing up in her life. Sure, living away from her parents hadn't been ideal but she'd had a wonderful education at a private boarding school and had been able to travel all over the world through the holidays. She had managed to get herself a degree, and a qualification in personal training on the side also. She'd stayed in the finest hotels in some of the most amazing cities, she lived in a mansion in the hills overlooking the absolutely stunning French Rivera, and literally had the world at her fingertips. She knew none of this would have been possible if it hadn't been for her father's 'work', but that didn't mean she needed to like what he did.

The problem she had with her father's work was that it was dangerous. He risked his and her whole family's lives every single day purely for money and greed. At least, that was the way that she saw it sometimes, like now for instance when he was being entirely unreasonable with her. The idea that he fostered as a whole was fairly honourable, he simply wanted her safe, but how could she make him see that she'd feel completely unsettled moving back to America than if she stayed here in the bubble of Europe? She felt untouchable here and her whereabouts were practically a secret to the outside world anyway. And besides, Europe was a rather large place. She sighed again and stopped her train of thought because she was only going to work herself up even more if she continued thinking this way and that would prove to be extremely counterproductive. Eventually, deciding that she'd given her father enough time to calm down, she decided to speak again. "I know you think I'm being difficult, but I just don't want to leave Europe. It's where I feel comfortable... it's where I belong."

"You belong where I tell you. Can't you see that I'm trying to keep you safe! You have to understand the severity of the situation we find ourselves in..."

"Well how am I supposed to understand when all you do is talk in code all the time? I don't have a clue what's going on, all you've said is that there's been a 'crisis', I mean what the hell does that mean? Has someone died? Has there been a fire? A leak? What?"

"You know I can't tell you over the telephone."

Haley rolled her eyes skywards from behind her oversized black Chanel sunglasses. That was always the problem with her father, he never could explain. He always simply asked for everyone's trust. Well, she wasn't going to give hers to him, not when trusting him meant leaving her entire life behind. Not when she would be leaving it all behind for something he couldn't even tell her about.

"Well, Junk left for the airport thirty minutes ago, so he should be there to pick you up tomorrow lunchtime. You are to come back on the evening flight."

"I never said I was going to come!" Haley responded incredulously. She should have known that her father would already have plans in motion to bring her back to America, of course he'd have sent one of his dogsbodies to come and get her. She should have known that he wasn't waiting for her to agree with him. In his eyes, this was happening and that was it. She wasn't to ask questions, or be difficult, or challenge him, she was simply supposed to go along with what he wanted her to do.

"I wasn't waiting for you to say yes. This is an order, Haley. Don't even think about not following it. I'll see you when you land in Chicago."

Before Haley even had a chance to splutter a response to her father, the line went dead and that incredibly annoying tone reverberated in her ear. She gritted her teeth together and lowered her phone from her ear, wanting to throw her mobile into the water in frustration at her father. However, she managed to restrain her urge and instead willed herself to calm down a little. She was so angry her arms were shaking and she clenched her fists together at the sides of her body, trying to control their trembling. How dare her father just presume that she'd bow to his every will, without so much as an explanation as to what the hell was going on?

She needed to come up with a plan, because there was no way in hell that she was getting on that plane to America. She knew she needed to get the hell away from here; she couldn't be waiting for Junk's arrival at home because if he found her there he'd take her back with him, no questions asked. He was following an order and not finishing off the job would have dire consequences for him so she needed to be long gone before he arrived here. She just couldn't come up with anything feasible. She knew that as soon as she disobeyed her father, the consequences of doing so would catch up with her at some point but she honestly didn't care in that moment. She just wanted to be free from it all, free from this life and finally be able to do whatever she wanted without her family breathing down her neck and watching her every move, albeit from a distance.

She shook her head at herself, willing a good idea to come into her mind, something which would mean that she wouldn't have to pander to her father's wishes. Pushing herself up off the bench, she paced up and down, running her hand through her hair in frustration because she couldn't come up with absolutely anything. Staring at the grand yachts wasn't giving her any inspiration at all, and so she turned away from the ocean and found herself in front of a notice board for the harbour. There, staring right in front of her on the board was the answer to all her problems. She was going to get a job on a damn yacht.

Pulling her phone up, Haley began entering the number displayed on the advert before she could even think about changing her mind. And then, just as the unwanted thoughts telling her to hang up and do as her father asked entered her head, she heard a gruff voice grunt down the phone at her, dispelling those thoughts completely from her mind.

"Hello?"

He sounded like he was pissed off that she'd interrupted him, like he was in the middle of something important, and she could hear the buzzing noise of people obviously moving around him through the phone. But instead of cowering under the tone of his voice, Haley straightened out her shoulders and gathered her resolve, telling herself that this was her chance to get the hell away from her father and all the messed up rubbish he foolishly labelled as 'work'. "Hi, my name's Haley and I've seen an advert you have for a personal trainer needed onboard a yacht," she said, pleased with how her voice sounded, professional and confident.

"Oh… well… er… I don't think we need a trainer anymore."

Haley frowned, the dread suddenly building up inside of her. If this person didn't need a trainer any longer, then that meant she was going to have to go back to America with Junk, because she didn't have any other ideas as to how to get out of leaving Europe. "So, you've filled the position?" she hedged.

"Not exactly, we just don't require someone now."

Seeing the feint glimmer of light at the end of the thoroughly dark tunnel she was trapped in, she felt a surge of luck rush through her entire body. "Well, I don't think its very professional of you to keep an advert up for a job you're not even hiring for anymore, in fact, I'm pretty sure it's illegal to do such a thing." Haley had no idea if it was illegal or not to falsely advertise for employment but it sort of sounded like it might be. She was hoping that whoever the hell she was talking to wouldn't know whether it was or wasn't legal either, and judging by the slight sputter which came down the phone, her wish was granted. She smiled, knowing that all she had to do now was push a little harder, at least, that's all she hoped she'd have to do. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, as they say, and besides, she didn't have anything to lose by applying a little bit of pressure on this man. "Now, I'm qualified and extremely good at personal training..."

"Listen, I don't really have the time…"

Haley continued to talk over him, not backing down. After all, this was her one chance, her one hope of staying in Europe instead of going back to her family and getting caught up in the middle of all their drama. "I'm happy to come on down for an interview…"

"Look, we're actually leaving tonight so there's no way that I can interview you before we leave…"

Haley's eyes widened as she heard the man talk down the phone at her, practically having to hold back the squeal she felt forming in her throat. This was just far too perfect, too good to be true. If they were leaving tonight, then there was no way in hell that her father would be able to track her. By the time Junk arrived in Cannes, they would be lost to him somewhere on the vast, blue ocean. "Well that sounds fine with me. Now where is your boat docked so I can come over for a chat?"

"Jesus, woman, you're a tad persistent, aren't you?"

Haley raised her eyebrow, even though the man she was speaking to on the phone clearly couldn't see her. Not relenting in her offering of herself for employment, she continued to speak to the man. "Which yacht are you on?" she asked and heard the man sigh in what she knew to be defeat. She caught herself just before she started to jump up and down on the spot, pleased that her persistence had paid off, never mind that she hadn't formally been offered employment yet.

"The Sognatore, we're in the Cannes harbour."

"Oh excellent, I'm there right now," Haley responded already making her way down the wooden dock, keeping her eyes peeled for the Sognatore.

"Of course you are…"

"I'll be there in a couple of minutes tops," Haley replied, unable to hide the slight smile she wore, because she was sure that the dude was rolling his eyes at her. She was slightly distracted as she spoke to him because she was looking at the names of all the boats she was passing, none of which appeared to be the Sognatore.

"Alright."

He sounded like he was becoming distracted and so Haley decided to leave him to finish whatever it was he was doing, so that he could be ready to interview her once she finally found this boat he was on. "Okay, see you in a few… oh, who do I need to ask for when I arrive?" she asked, suddenly remembering that she didn't even know the name of who she was currently speaking to.

"My name's Julian. Just hop on board and someone will come and find me when you get here."

"Okay, will do," Haley said brightly and then hung up the phone. She continued to wander down the dock, not even sure as to what size boat she should be looking for. She'd walked past some pretty impressive boats but was now strolling past some of the smaller ones, still not finding the Sognatore. She stopped walking when she reached the end of one of the docks and placed her hand on her hip, the swift ocean breeze blowing her dress and her hair all over the place. She bit down on her lip, her eyes moving rapidly around the harbour, trying to spot the yacht she was looking for. Scrunching up her eyes behind her sunglasses, she hastily walked to the bottom of the dock again and began to move up the next row, still searching for the Sognatore. She stared wistfully at the yachts she was passing, remembering happier times spent with her family on their boat they had moored in Miami , but before she could get too caught up in her thoughts, she banished them from her mind. That had been such a long time ago, it had been before her father found himself knee deep in a business with responsibilities she was sure he couldn't even have comprehended at the time he took over the reins.

After a good fifteen minutes spent searching for the Sognatore, the only boat left in the large harbour she'd yet to check was the humungous thing right at the end. But that couldn't be the one that she was after. She twisted herself around on the spot, staring at all the boats she'd previously checked, wanting to make sure she hadn't missed one or something, and sure enough she realised that she had been down each and every row of the harbour. Turning back around to face the monstrosity of a boat, she bit down on her lip, the daunting size of this yacht, or rather mini-cruise liner, completely dwarfed her and made her feel ridiculously nervous about setting foot on it. It wasn't exactly subtle, and whoever owned the thing must be extremely wealthy… maybe her father knew the owner…

However, she dismissed that thought before her mind could wander any further. It wasn't like her father knew everyone in the damn world, even if it did seem that way sometimes. Taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, she walked confidently towards the boat, though inside she was completely bewildered by the sheer size of the thing.

As she rounded the corner, she found that the dock beside the boat was full of people wandering around frantically, carrying various sized boxes up onto the boat. It really was a hive of seemingly disorganised activity. She furrowed her brow as she neared the boat, the sheer volume of people milling around making her feel rather nervous. She understood, obviously that a boat this size would require a fair few people on board, and she should have guessed that the fact that they were hiring a personal trainer meant that it had to be fairly large in size but she hadn't been expecting something this huge.

The sun continued to beat down relentlessly and Haley watched as the men repeatedly wiped the sweat from their brows. She couldn't see another woman anywhere near the boat, and she felt this weird sensation in her stomach, like it was kind of dangerous for her to be here. However, she considered the alternative for a brief moment, realising that the only other option available to her at that point was getting on that plane and going to America with Junk, and she knew that she didn't really have a choice. She point blank refused to go back to her father and so decided to stop being silly and refused to be intimidated by all the testosterone on show.

Walking towards the boat, she could feel the eyes from all the men on her body, practically burning holes in the dress she wore. She wished for a moment that the ground would just open up and swallow her whole, but then she realised once again that she was just being stupid. Moving forward with what she hoped to be a confident walk, she glanced up at the boat and saw the words she'd been looking for. This was the Sognatore. She half breathed a sigh of relief that she had found it and half of nervousness at what she was about to do as she began to walk onboard.

Once she had made it up onto the deck, she was rather startled by the number of people which were up here with her. It was like an ant farm, utterly chaotic but everyone seemed to know what they were doing and where they were supposed to be. Completely baffled, and hoping that not everybody she saw was going to be staying on the boat with them, because otherwise it was going to be extremely crowded, she picked someone out who seemed to be directing people around, and should therefore hopefully know who this Julian person was that she needed to speak to. He was barking orders around like a madman, and Haley's early confidence she'd been trying to project dwindled a little. "Excuse me?" She said in an extremely timid voice, taking off her sunglasses so that she could look the person she was talking to in the eyes.

"What the hell is that? Come on guys, you know Nathan won't want that on here, it's pink for crying out loud! Get it off." He waited until the man carrying the pink bedding turned around and walked off the boat before continuing. "And get a move on will you? We need to get everything onboard, get all the food and drink in and then prep the boat before we leave tonight, and at the rate you guys are moving we won't be leaving here until the morning!"

Haley watched as the man rolled his eyes at his men, who she thought were actually working very hard. It was a boiling hot day, and it couldn't be comfortable for them all, working so hard in this heat, but she wasn't in a position to say anything and so she kept her mouth firmly shut. She then realised after having waited for the man to acknowledge her for another minute or two that he hadn't heard her, or was purposefully ignoring her. "Excuse me," she said in a much louder voice than she had used previously.

The man turned around to face her this time, flashing her an irritated glare, presumably because she had interrupted his instructing, before his eyes softened once they had time to focus on her properly. "Well hello there. What can I help you with, Miss?" he asked, a smile playing on the corners of his mouth.

Haley smiled brightly at the man, pleased that his tone of voice wasn't as harsh as the one he'd used when he was shouting at the men working on the boat. "I'm looking for Julian?" she said and then cast her eyes over the expanse of the deck, wondering if she could guess who he was before the man directed her to him.

"Who's asking for him?" the man asked, smirking at her now as he folded his arms over his chest.

"My name's Haley, I called about a job as an onboard personal trainer about twenty minutes ago and he said to come on over," Haley replied, moving her gaze back from the busy deck to the man standing in front of her, who now had a very large smirk planted right across his face. She scowled at him for a brief second, wondering what he found so funny, before she realised that she hadn't got the job yet, despite her thoughts indicating that she had, and she was supposed to be making a good impression. She straightened herself out and removed the squint from her face, replacing it with what she hoped to be a warm and friendly smile.

"I think you've got that wrong, sweetheart," he said, the smirk growing into a chuckle when he saw the flash of confusion pass over her face and then the frown beginning to set in.

Haley was puzzled. What did he mean she'd got it wrong? Julian had told her to come over here, hadn't he? She hadn't made that whole phone conversation up, had she? "I'm sorry?" she asked, unsure as to what the hell else she should say to him. She was also incredibly perplexed as to why he was chuckling at her too, she couldn't work out what he found so amusing.

"I don't think Julian told you to come down here at all, I think you insisted…" he started but was soon interrupted by a blabbering Haley.

Haley had to interrupt him because she was fighting for this job, in fact, she resolved with herself then and there that she wouldn't walk off this boat until she'd got it. There was no way in hell that she was going back to America with Junk and this was just the perfect solution to her current predicament. "No, he definitely told me to come down here, he said to come onboard and find him, I mean who the hell are you anyway, and how do you know what he did or didn't say?" she questioned, folding her arms in front of her chest defiantly, raising her eyebrow at this man in challenge.

The smirk he was wearing turned into a full on smile. "You're feisty, I like it."

Haley was completely outraged. Who on earth was this dude? Was he hitting on her? "Excuse me, who the hell are you and where's Julian?" she asked, not wanting to waste her time with whoever this person was any longer. She simply wanted to find this Julian person, convince him to give her the job and then gather a few essentials from the house before disappearing for a while.

The man rolled his eyes at the girl, but he stood by his earlier comment. She was feisty and for sure would be able to handle Nathan, which had partly been the reason as to why he hadn't found a personal trainer as of yet. All of the girls who had been to see him were too timid and would never have been able to work well with Nathan, and the guys had just been wrong on so many levels. He'd decided not to bother hiring one, after conversations with the boss, obviously. But this Haley person, she was different. He considered her for a moment, his eyes quickly assessing her before he held out his hand for her to shake. "Julian Baker, nice to meet you. And sorry about the teasing, you'll get used to it."

Haley instantly felt her cheeks flush red, the heat of the sun not helping her body temperature and she felt like kicking herself. "Oh god," she mumbled, completely and utterly embarrassed. She lowered her eyes and looked down at the decking, before raising them slowly to meet Julian's, wondering what he must think of her now. "I'm so sorry about that."

Julian chuckled at her. "No worries, like I said, you're feisty, and that's a good thing. Now, shall we head inside and have a little chat?" he said and then began to lead the way inside, glancing behind him when he didn't hear Haley follow behind him. "Are you coming or what?"

Haley couldn't believe that he still wanted to see her after she was so rude to him, but she didn't need to be asked twice. She returned his smile and followed him inside, pleased to be out of the heat of the afternoon sun, the cool air-conditioning hitting her skin and cooling her cheeks, and the rest of her body right down to a far more normal temperature and she sighed in relief.

"It's a lot cooler in here, isn't it?" Julian said with a smile as he stepped out of the way, allowing Haley to wander in before him. He closed the door to the inside, making sure that the cold air stayed inside, mindful that the room should be at just the right temperature for when Nathan arrived.

"Wow," Haley muttered under her breath while her eyes widened as she allowed them to travel around the vast room. Her father had always called their family yacht in Miami a 'luxury' boat but it was nothing compared to the sheer size and opulence of the Sognatore. To say this was luxurious would be a complete understatement. To the left of where she was standing was the lounge area, complete with white leather sofas arranged around an extremely expensive looking coffee table. There was a flat screen TV on the wall opposite and further down the room she saw a dining room table which must have easily sat sixteen, if not twenty people. Windows were situated all around the room allowing the sunlight to seep through, granting glorious views of the ocean and the land on either side. She could feel her mouth beginning to drop open but luckily she managed to catch it and she snapped it shut before she made a complete idiot of herself.

Julian chuckled at her innocent reaction to the surroundings. He'd often forget how impressive the Sognatore was because he'd set foot on this boat a thousand times before, so in a way it was actually nice to see her reaction to it. He felt a sense of pride which was silly because the boat wasn't his but he still loved showing it off in all its glory. "Come on; let's head down to the office."

Haley followed Julian down some stairs which she hadn't noticed were to the right of where she was currently standing. She then walked into another vast space, larger than the one upstairs, seeing that it was set out like a bar. There was a long bar running along one side and then leather chairs were dotted around the room at various points, with a large space for dancing in the middle. She couldn't help but think what a great party space this would be. Whoever owned this thing was incredibly lucky, and obviously extremely rich too.

Julian led the way through the room and walked through a door located behind the bar, opening the first door down a long corridor which housed the office. Motioning for Haley to sit down on one of the chairs facing the desk, he moved to sit in the large chair behind the desk. He began asking her the usual questions about her qualifications and experience, thinking her more and more perfect for the job with each answer she gave him. "I've got to say, Haley, I think you're perfect for the role," Julian said and smiled when he saw her enthusiastic smile beaming back at him. "The only problem is that we're supposed to be leaving tonight, and I have no idea how long we're going to be gone for, or where we're headed in fact. I'm sorry to be so vague but I'm just blindly following orders at the moment. Are you sure you can start right away? I mean, does all of that sound okay?"

Haley couldn't stop the beaming smile from spreading across her cheeks. "Absolutely, it sounds perfect!" she responded, feeling the relief and happiness at knowing, for sure now, that she had landed the job. She felt like diving off the top of the deck into the ocean, screaming that she wouldn't have to go back to America but instead she managed to contain her glee somewhat, though she was practically vibrating with excitement.

Julian couldn't help but wonder why she was so agreeable to them leaving tonight, he'd been so sure that she'd respond by saying that it was too short notice and she couldn't possibly leave so quickly. He frowned as he looked over at her, all happy about having landed the job and was about to question her about it, but then decided not to, after all, he didn't want to plant seeds of doubt in her mind when there clearly weren't any there to begin with. "Great, well we're hoping to leave early evening…"

"Excellent, I'll just need to head home and grab my things and let some people know where I'm going," Haley replied. "I can fish out some certificates as well if you need them?"

"No, it's fine, there's no need for you to show me any evidence or anything. You seem like a good, honest girl, and besides, Nathan will tell me if you're no good at working him out, and if that's the case, well I can always throw you overboard," Julian said, adding a wink onto the end of his sentence so that she knew that he was joking, sort of. He wouldn't throw her overboard into the sea, but he would get her the hell off this boat at the next available opportunity if she wasn't up to the task, or if she poked her nose in where it wasn't wanted, for that matter.

Haley smiled at him and then followed as he walked back up to the deck, before they shook hands and said their goodbyes. She practically skipped all the way back to her car, sure that she was making a bit of a spectacle of herself but she couldn't find it in herself to care. She wasn't going back to America, and her father, livid as she knew he would be, would just simply have to deal with it. If he wasn't able to tell her what was going on, like usual, then she wouldn't just bend to his rule like she had on so many other occasions. It was time for her to start living her own life, in her own way.

Two hours later, Haley had packed a bag full of clothes and some of her belongings, choosing to leave most of her items behind at the house. She was a little unsure of what she should pack if she was being honest with herself because she didn't know how long she was going to be on the boat for, but she figured they'd have some laundry facility on the boat anyway so it didn't really matter. Obviously, she packed plenty of work out clothes too, seeing as that was going to be what she'd no doubt be spending most of her time doing while she was onboard. She pondered for a moment about this Nathan dude Julian had spoken about, she didn't know for sure but she guessed it was his boat, given the way Julian had mentioned him. She wondered what he would be like, and whether there was a Mrs Nathan too. She had no idea if he were old or young, or what the hell he did. But that all just added to the excitement she felt.

She noted the time and sent a quick email to her father's personal email account, letting him know that she was safe but that she wasn't going to be coming back to America with Junk, knowing that he wouldn't check it until later on that evening Chicago time and it would be far too late for him to contact her or someone else to try to stop her from leaving. Luckily her aunt and uncle weren't in either so she left them a note which she placed on the fridge, once again letting them know that she had got a job somewhere but needed to leave immediately for it, and that she'd be in touch soon. She wasn't sure if that were the case but she didn't want them to worry, so she'd have to find a way of contacting them at some point in her travels.

She made sure to leave her mobile phone at home, because otherwise she'd be tempted to use it and that would only give her father the prime opportunity of locating her, which was the last thing she wanted. Making one last sweep of her room, checking she hadn't king one last sweep of her room, checking she hadn't left anything she needed behind, she picked up the house phone and called for a taxi to take her down to the harbour. She reminded herself to ask the taxi driver to stop at the bank so that she could take a heap of money out of her account before her father caught wind of what she was doing. There was no doubt in her mind that once he either read the email or Junk told him of her disappearance, that he'd freeze her bank account in an attempt to get her to contact him. Pleased that she was thinking one step ahead of her dad, she smiled to herself as she waited outside the house in the sunshine, feeling a good kind of apprehension and nervousness about this new chapter of her life. She'd finally found the courage to break free, and she was absolutely revelling in it.

~*~

Nathan stood with a drink of ice cold lemonade in his hands outside on the balcony which was connected to his bedroom, admiring the view of the ocean. He loved coming here, a homely feeling would overtake him as soon as he walked through the front door and when he would eventually leave he would always feel like he was leaving a piece of himself behind too. When he was younger, he would run along the sandy beach with his brother Lucas, both of them pushing each other around and trying to push the other in water. Nathan would usually always win, he was the taller of the two, and had a more muscular build. He had many memories here in Cannes, memories of happy times spent with his family. Their beach house in the South of France was one that they used to go to pretty often, summers, winters... any holiday or free time they had, sparse though it was with his father's line of work.

When they had managed to get away from the stresses of home, Cannes was the place where they could really be a family without any interruptions, without anything bad happening or troubling them. Nathan could walk down the street without the fear of being attacked and followed, something of a novelty for him. They were almost safe here, well as safe as their family could be anyway. It was all relative. But over the years the trips here had become less frequent, the family business constantly getting in the way. He tried to remember how long it had been since he had visited the house, and he realised that he hadn't been here for five years... no one had. Somehow it didn't seem like that much time had passed. Standing here, looking down over the gardens, the pool and the sparkling, inviting sea, he could still hear the echoes; his mum and dad laughing, enjoying each other's company, Lucas talking on the phone to Brooke, telling her how much he missed her... he had never really appreciated it at the time, but then again, back then he hadn't known that his whole word was about to come crashing down. He hadn't known then that their family time would come to revolve around discussing safety and how they were going to destroy the Evans family.

Nathan watched as the sun began to lower in the sky, casting an orange glow over the water, the sea calm and settled today, whereas yesterday it had been raging and ferocious. He found the personality of the sea fascinating; it was unpredictable, rather like his father. You never could tell what mood he would be in, or when he was going to flip. He sighed to himself as he rested his arms on the balcony, lowering his stance slightly. He couldn't help but find it rather ironic that he used to come here to spend time with his family, whereas now he was here to get away from them... and most importantly to get away from Dan.

He loved his dad, he really did. While he was growing up, the Scott's had been an incredibly tight knit family and loyalty was one of the strongest themes which had been ingrained in him from a very early age. What he didn't love, though, was what his father chose to do with his life. What his family got involved in wasn't what he wanted to do; it wasn't where he saw himself at all. Dan constantly pestered him to come and work at the dealership and to get involved in the family business. To many that may have sounded fine, but his dad wouldn't just want him to work with cars, he has a completely different agenda for his son. It would be a dangerous move, should he choose to make it, and it was one that Nathan was trying his hardest to avoid. But he found that no matter where he went his family always caught up with him; no matter how hard he tried to escape he was always pulled back into the mess that was his family. There was nothing he could do, he couldn't stop it. He had tried many times but to Dan that was seen as him going against his family. It was seen as him being disloyal, and that, according to his father, was the worse thing he could possibly do.

Because of that, he had been extremely surprised when his father seemed so happy about him going to Cannes. It was rather out of character because usually if Nathan wanted to leave it would only anger him. He didn't like annoying Dan because his volatility meant that you never knew what his response would be and this unsettled Nathan, like most things where his father was concerned. He should know better by now than to try to second guess him though. With another wistful sigh, he moved away from the edge of the balcony and sat down on one of the chairs in the shade which were a permanent fixture on his terrace. Relieved to be out of the heat of the still scorching sun, he placed his head in his hands while the events of the past few months swirled around in his head. Nothing was as he hoped it would be and everything had completely altered. The reality of just how much everything had changed hit him suddenly, like a ferocious, unrelenting wave crashing over his body. Being in this house was now only causing him to become depressed, making him realise that he was never going to be that young boy he'd been thinking about earlier again, a young boy with no worries, no fears and simply allowed to enjoy life. He now, by his father's orders, had to become a man, a man with so many troubles, a man with no mercy, a man that was fuelled by revenge and hatred.

He didn't understand how Lucas did it. Sure, he kind of understood why Dan did it, but Lucas? It had completely surprised not only him but also his mother when he had decided to make the move into the family business. He had always been rather quiet and composed, whereas Nathan had been the more boisterous, daring one. He was absolutely sure that if you'd have asked people to take bets as to which son would most likely follow in their father's footsteps; everyone would have certainly chosen him over Lucas. He guessed though, as the old saying goes, it really was the quiet ones you needed to look out for. Dan was exceptionally proud of Lucas for making the move and it seemed like he was simply biding his time until his second son also joined him. Nathan, however, completely despised his brother's decision. He hated the fact he was in danger every day. Lucas wasn't just his brother; he was also his best friend. Many times over the past couple of years he'd received frantic calls from Brooke, asking if he knew where Lucas was, or what he was doing because he hadn't come home and wasn't answering his phone. Nathan understood that Brooke knew, but to what extent he wasn't so sure. So he had to lie to her for Lucas, in order to keep both him and her safe. Lucas didn't want her to get hurt, but he supposed that in some ways she was still getting hurt all the same.

Nathan let out a loud sigh, trying to dispel his disgust and frustration at the whole situation he and his family found themselves in. He looked up from where he had been staring at the ground, completely lost in his thoughts and turned his gaze to the sandy beach again, watching as the waves gently caressed the shore. He sometimes wished he was the sea, wished that he was free to roam as he chose, not particularly belonging to anyone, not having to do as someone else ordered. He realised that he was wasting his time with wishful thinking though because he was a Scott, and that name came with a price unfortunately. He was jolted abruptly from his thoughts as his phone began to ring from inside his bedroom. Pushing himself up from the chair he wandered inside, smiling at the familiarity the room offered. Even though he was the only one here, and could have taken the more comfortable master suite, he still chose to sleep in his room. Walking over to the dresser, he picked up his vibrating phone, seeing that the number was withheld.

"Hello?" Nathan answered cautiously as he brought his phone up to his ear. He hated withheld numbers, he hated not knowing who he was about to speak to.

"Son, we need to talk." His father's booming voice vibrated in his ear and Nathan could feel his stomach sinking. Dan sounded angry, and given the tone of his no nonsense voice, he knew exactly what he was going to say next.

"No, Dan, we don't. I think I made my feelings pretty clear the last time we talked," he interrupted before his father could begin the all too familiar lecture. Nathan was completely fed up with him and his scheming. He had told him on countless occasions that he wanted no part in any of it, yet for some reason he always came back asking him for favours. He was getting tired of it all.

"Why can't you be more like Lucas? Huh?" Dan retorted.

Here he goes, Nathan thought as he rolled his eyes to himself. The good old comparing me to Lucas chat. It was getting old. He knew that he was disappointing his father, he knew that he thought he wasn't living up to the Scott name, that he was supposedly wasting his potential. God it really was beginning to get infuriating. "You know why, you know exactly what happens when I get involved!" Nathan shouted back, trying to end this conversation before Dan managed to ask him the inevitable question. Images of that night began to creep into his mind but before they could completely consume him, he clenched his eyes shut and slowly managed to make them fade away.

"Yes I do, son, which is why you have to help me. You owe it to your-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence! I don't owe shit to anybody!" Nathan snapped. The images he'd been trying to keep at bay now flooded into his mind like a dam that had burst suddenly. His free hand clenched the side of the dresser he was standing beside, wanting nothing more than to just break it apart.

"Nathan, don't take that tone with me, you know better than that. Why can't you just help your old man out?"

"You know why," Nathan responded through clenched teeth. He was trying desperately hard to calm down, repeating his action of screwing his eyes shut while he worked on dispelling those horrible images from his mind. He knew Dan wasn't worth it and he shouldn't allow himself to get so worked up because of him but he couldn't help it. Somehow he managed to press all his buttons without seeming to try to anger or frustrate him.

"Look, you need to grow up, son. It's a tough world out there and you can't keep running away from your family all the time, throwing yourself into a useless life of self pity! Now, you're going to help me whether you like it or not. We have a huge problem and your family needs your help. Are you just going to turn your back on us?"

Nathan listened to his father's speech, realising that he was being serious. There really was something wrong; he could hear the slightest hint of desperation and excitement in his voice. It was clear that he meant business. "A problem?" Nathan asked as his mind raced with various possibilities as to what could have gone wrong. He felt rather scared as to how Dan might reply for he remembered all too well what happened the last time they had a 'problem'.

"Yes, a problem! I need you to help, son, please. After this is all over I won't ask for your help again. I need you, your family needs you… we can't do this without you."

Nathan knew that his father was trying to guilt him into helping him and he hated that he couldn't find it within himself to argue back with him. He loved his family and both he and his father knew that he would do almost anything for them. He weighed up what his father was asking of him, the temptation of never being bothered by Dan for 'business' matters again enticing him to want to help. "You promise after this I won't have to do anything for the business again?" he asked, thinking of the peaceful future he would have away from all the drama and the mess.

"I promise," Dan said sincerely, and Nathan believed him. He knew that his father never made a promise that he wouldn't keep. The consequences of doing such a thing would be extremely far reaching and dangerous, given his line of work.

"Fine. What is it?" Nathan asked reluctantly, feeling a little bit defeated. Though he knew he couldn't just turn his back on the family when there was a serious problem, not after everything that had happened.

"I knew you'd come around." Nathan could hear the smile in his father's voice and he rolled his eyes to himself, feeling like he had just walked freely into the lion's den. "I need you to pick up a parcel for me and take it on the boat where it can't be traced. After a few weeks you are going to bring it back home, you got that?"

"A parcel?" Nathan asked, wondering why he had agreed to something so silly. He felt rather relieved that something so trivial was granting him freedom from his father's desires of him joining the business. All he had to do was wander around with a parcel and then take it back home? He grinned to himself, the ease of the task elating him before he realised that it had to be too good to be true. "What kind of parcel?"

"Look, it doesn't matter what it is, okay? It will already be on the yacht when you get there, all I need you to do is stay with it. I have everything set up for you, just act like you're taking a small vacation or something... Julian, you know Julian, right..?"

"He, um, he sounds familiar," Nathan answered as he searched his brain, trying to put a face to a name but he couldn't come up with anything. His father had so many associates it was really hard to keep up with them all.

"Okay, well, he is the Captain, and he'll make sure everything is in order for you. He's prepping the Sognatore now actually. Oh, and do not tell anyone else about the parcel. I mean it, Nathan, if this gets leaked there will be serious consequences," Dan threatened.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Nathan responded dismissively, unable to keep the chuckle from escaping because he knew that there wouldn't be anyone he could talk to on the yacht that he could possibly tell anyway.

"Nathan, this is serious, don't you dare mess this up."

"Alright, I won't," Nathan responded with a sigh, bringing his free hand up from the dresser so that he could run it through his hair, shaking his head at how ridiculously stern his father was being with him. He was doing him a damn favour for God's sake, he didn't need to be treated like a child.

"Right, I will email you Julian's number once we've finished talking and anything else that you'll need to know. You should contact him, make sure everything is ready. They should be leaving early evening so get yourself down there quickly, okay?"

"Dad, are you sure this is it? This is all I have to do? Sit on a yacht for a few weeks?" Nathan asked uncertainly because he was sure there would be a catch somewhere. It just seemed far too simple, and the problem or whatever the hell it was didn't seem to match the severity his father had labelled it.

"Yes, Nathan, that's all you have to do. For crying out loud, all you do is complain! Just phone Julian and talk to him, okay?"

"Alright I will! But you still haven't told me what this problem is. How the hell am I supposed to help out if you won't even tell me what is going on? What's in the parcel?" Nathan pushed, wanting to know all the details instead of half of the story. Like always though, his father trusted no one but himself with the full details, sparingly giving out as little as he needed to those involved in the issue.

"Look, Nathan, just keep quiet and do as I tell you, please! Go on that yacht and do whatever the hell you like. Just don't tell anyone about the parcel and make sure it stays safe, Then bring it home when I tell you. That is your job, that is all you're required to do and that is all I am telling you. I mean for Christ's sake, you always say you don't want to know anything so this is me just doing what you want. You can't have it both ways!" Dan shouted.

Nathan sighed heavily to himself, it seemed whenever they tried to talk it always turned into some sort of argument. "Right, whatever. I'll do it." Nathan answered solemnly; not knowing what else he should say. His dad was right, he didn't usually want to know the ins and outs of the business but it was slightly different when he was in the thick of it.

"Okay son, I will phone you later to check how things are going. Remember, you'd better not let me down." And with that Dan hung up, ending his instruction.

Nathan dropped his phone down on the dresser, wondering what exactly he had just gotten himself into. It seemed far too easy for something of so much importance. He was definitely missing something and he desperately wanted to find out what it was. He felt like phoning Dan back and telling him that the deal was off unless he told him the whole damn story. But he knew his father would never tell him. He rubbed his hands over his face and frowned, realising that he was going to be on the Sognatore and he didn't even know how long he was expected to stay there. He sighed to himself and walked over to his bed, pulling his suitcase out from underneath it, realising that the sun had dipped further in the sky. He began to pack for his trip, pulling out his clothes from the wardrobe and stuffing them inside the case. He chuckled to himself as he grabbed his shoes from the bottom of the closet, finding it funny that he felt the same way he did when he was a young boy. Whenever he used to leave here, he'd always feel sad. The only difference now was that he felt scared and apprehensive about what was to come.

~*~

Nathan checked the house again, making sure he hadn't left anything of any importance to him in one of the many rooms. In fact he knew that he hadn't, everything of any significance was packed away in his suitcase which was waiting for him by the front door. He just wanted to stay here for as long as he possibly could. Throughout the last hour or so, it had become clear to him that this whole parcel business was a bad idea. He realised that he should have just said no to Dan and not given in to his pleas. But what could he do about it now? He'd already phoned Julian and sorted everything out that he needed to. He was to have the most luxurious room on the Sognatore, he was to have all his possessions, including the parcel, stored in a large safe that only he had the combination to and, so Julian had informed him, he even had his own personal trainer!

Nathan realised that he could look at the situation he now found himself in from two very different angles. One was where he realised that he was simply his Dad's puppet, doing whatever he wanted whenever he commanded it, even if it put his own life in danger. But on the other hand he realised that he could think of this as a vacation, like his dad had suggested. After all, he'd be on a yacht, in the middle of the ocean with no one able to trouble him or to ask him to do things for them, and when he thought about it like that, he realised that it actually sounded rather perfect.

He thought back to the conversation he had with Julian about half an hour ago as he wandered from room to room. He seemed pretty decent, a bit full of himself though, and for some rather absurd reason he kept on coming out with these movie quotes, which had started to piss Nathan off a little. But apart from that strange trait, all in all he was alright; he could possibly even be someone he could see himself befriending.

Nathan looked around once more at the beach house, wishing that it contained some sort of time machine that could take him back a good few years. However, when he thought about it some more, he once again imagined his mom and dad and Lucas and Brooke, and all of a sudden the loneliness he felt consumed him entirely. He had no one. Everyone he knew in his life now had someone, but not him. He knew this was probably because he was generally more of a love them and leave them type, but that didn't mean that he didn't get lonely sometimes.

Sighing to himself, he lifted his suitcase, set the alarm and closed the front door behind him on his way out, making sure that he had locked the house up properly. "Here goes nothing," he muttered to himself as he started to walk across to the Sognatore. It wasn't too far from the house and Nathan could already see the yachts docked in the prestigious harbour, already being able to make out the Sognatore, simply because it was the biggest yacht there. After his short walk had led him to the dock, he made his way over to the boat, watching the men take the last minute items onboard. He glanced around before he made his way onto the boat, watching a group of old ladies walk onto another yacht and he then saw a family climbing aboard a tiny boat right next to the Sognatore. He noticed that no one in the whole harbour was climbing onto a boat by themselves; everyone seemed to have some company with them. And then, once again, that lonely feeling crept into his mind. He sighed and shook his head at himself, hating the fact that he could be surrounded by so many people, but still manage to feel as desolate as he did. He shook the feeling off for the second time that day and made his way onto the boat.

Once onboard he decided that he needed to find Julian, so that he could let him know that he had arrived before he went to his room. He walked over to where a group of men were standing, chatting amongst themselves. "Hey guys, do any of you know where I can find Julian?" he asked.

"Yep, he's in his cabin. Who are you?" one of the men asked, turning around so that they could face Nathan.

Nathan looked back at the man in front of him; it was clear from his uniform that he worked here on the boat. Nathan noted that he looked around the same age as himself, maybe a little bit older. "I'm Nathan Scott, I'm staying here," Nathan added, knowing that to these people his name would most likely mean nothing.

"Ah, so you're the dude we've been waiting for? I'm Skills, by the way," he said and then offered his hand to Nathan for him to shake.

"Nice to meet you, man," Nathan responded and then shook Skills' hand, pleased to find that his dad hadn't decked the boat out with a bunch of old men at least. He might even be able to have a few laughs while he was onboard.

"So, Julian told me about you. He said that you were to receive the best treatment while you were staying on here. So what's your deal? Are you royalty or something, dude?" Skills asked with a glint in his eye, unable to stop the laugh which escaped from his mouth.

"Something like that," Nathan answered, laughing along with him. It was best for him to remain as mysterious as he could. The less questions, the better. It was something he'd learnt from his father a long time ago.

"Alright, well if you need anything just give me a shout. Julian is down the stairs and on the second right," Skills said as he pointed in the general direction of where Julian was.

"Thanks," Nathan responded. He turned around and walked inside the yacht so that he could find Julian. He smiled to himself as he walked through the familiar yacht, seeing the large bar area which he'd hosted many a party in before he walked through to where Skills had said Julian was. He found the second door on the right and knocked before he entered, asserting the manners his mother had ingrained in him from a very young age.

"Come in." A deep voice answered.

Taking a deep breath while trying once again to place a face to Julian's name, but like before coming up short, Nathan opened up the door and walked inside. "Hi, I'm Nathan Scott, we talked on the phone earlier," he addressed the man seated behind the desk, pleased to see that he was also pretty young. He'd kind of been expecting to find some old guy with and eye patch and a beard, possibly a parrot on his shoulder too.

"Hey Nathan, I'm Julian. It's nice to finally meet you; your father has told me so much about you. I'm surprised you managed to find me, Dan told me it's been a while since you were onboard but…" He went to talk on but Nathan interrupted him.

"Yeah, um, that guy, Skills I think it was, told me where to find you," Nathan answered. He hovered by the desk, not really knowing what to do with himself. He was aware that Julian was fairly close with his father and the last thing he wanted to do was disrespect him by acting like he owned the boat or something. He knew that any bad behaviour would get reported right back to his dad and he didn't need him to have another thing on his list which he could berate him for, he already had plenty of ammunition to use against him.

"Ah, right, so you've met Skills Taylor then? Oh, please have a seat." Julian pointed to one of the empty chairs which Nathan was standing in front of.

"Thanks," Nathan responded, taking the seat Julian offered to him. He then ran his hand through his hair, unsure of what he should do now. He kind of just wanted to go to his room so that he could just chill out, but he didn't want to be rude.

"You want a drink? Whisky? A Brandy?" Julian asked as he pushed the chair away from the desk and made his way over to a cabinet on the left hand side of the room.

"No, thanks, I'm off that," Nathan responded, laughing when Julian turned around to face him with a raised eyebrow.

"Bad experience or something?" he chuckled, wondering why someone as young as Nathan would be off drink, it seemed rather absurd to him.

"You could say that..." Nathan responded. He looked down at the carpeted floor, thinking back to the last time he'd had a drink. It had been a few months ago when he was out with Lucas and Brooke, which in reality had been the worst idea ever. Brooke's always set on getting people absolutely off their faces, and well, she somehow always managed to. Nathan laughed as he remembered ending the night under his car, his reasoning being it had been better to be under it than over it, and apparently it had kept him warm, or so he'd told Lucas.

"So you don't drink much then?" Julian asked, watching as Nathan laughed to himself, obviously reliving a memory.

Nathan didn't know how to respond, he didn't drink much at all really, but the reasons were so that he could never be caught off guard. It was far too dangerous for him ever to just go out to a bar and have a drink. He didn't know who was around, who was watching and what they could do to him. Therefore when he did drink, he always made sure he was around someone he could trust, like Lucas, who on that night a couple of months ago had stayed sober while himself and Brooke had gotten smashed. "Not really. I can have a good time without it, you know?" he lied.

"Oh right, well, I wish I felt the same. It would be a lot cheaper! I can't seem to get enough of the stuff!" Julian said with a laugh as he poured himself a shot of whisky.

"So, my dad sent you here then?" Nathan enquired.

"Yeah he did. The old man told me what's going on, well, as much as he could. The parcel he had me pick up is in your room in the safe. I have to say though; this has to be the best job he's ever given me. Seriously, just being out here on the sea, feeling free, it's great. I've not felt this liberated in a long time."

Nathan understood what he meant. He knew the ties Julian was bound up in and he could imagine how he was feeling right about now, being away from all the stuff that was going on in Chicago. It was all he wanted for himself too, to be free and not get himself caught up in all the drama, it was why he didn't want to join his dad in the family business. "I can imagine," Nathan answered, finding the subject a bit touchy.

"So, we have everything set up for you. Your room should be ready now. You remember where it is, right?" Julian asked. He took a sip of his whisky and then placing the glass down on a coaster on the desk.

"Yep, I remember," Nathan answered, slightly pleased that this conversation seemed to be wrapping up. He knew the boat was supposed to leave in a few minutes so he guessed Julian had some last minute prep work to be getting on with.

"Good, so you don't need me to show you where it is then. Also your personal trainer is here. You'll have to let me know when you want to see her, so that she can work you into her schedule; there are actually a few other people on the yacht who want to use her too."

"The trainer is a her?" Nathan asked incredulously. He managed to bite his tongue before he said any more, realising just how sexist he must have sounded. It wasn't that he was sexist in the slightest, it was just that he'd never worked with a woman trainer before. How the hell was she going to know what kind of fitness regime he needed?

Julian couldn't help but laugh at Nathan's outburst. "Yeah, I know, fiery one she is as well! I swear to you, she gave herself the job without even asking me!"

"Really?" Nathan asked, unable to help wondering whether she was even qualified if she'd offered the position to herself as Julian had said. The personal trainer had been a huge plus point of agreeing to do this job for his father in the first place though, and if she turned out to be crap, then he most certainly wasn't going to be happy.

"She is nice though and kind of hot too. You're lucky!"

Julian immediately had Nathan's attention with that admission. He lived for women, and well, he couldn't help but think that sex was an extremely effective form of exercise. He smirked to himself, his previous frustration about her possibly not being qualified forgotten and all of a sudden he could think of exactly how he was going to get his fun out of this trip. "Really? Well, that's interesting. Can you tell her I'll have my first session tomorrow afternoon, four o'clock?" Nathan asked. He would have said earlier because he really wanted to check this woman out, but he didn't really do early mornings for anybody, hot or not.

"Okay, of course, I'll sort that out for you. Your dad has everything else sorted for you, he'll let me know where we are going later on I guess," Julian shrugged.

Nathan knew that his dad had ordered Julian to take this boat wherever he wanted it to go. "Right, thanks man. I'll catch you later, I guess," Nathan responded as he stood up and walked out of his office. He sighed to himself as he closed the door behind him and for the second time that day he wondered what he had got himself into. And as he looked out of one of the portholes and saw that the boat was moving, he also realised that there was no going back.

~*~

Nathan was completely fed up. Being on this boat and doing absolutely nothing was starting to bother him. He always had a constantly busy life, and, well, this boat wasn't exactly what he would call a hive of activity. His room was lovely though. He shook his head and chuckled to himself as that thought entered his mind, because you couldn't really call it a room, the space was more like an apartment built in the middle of the boat. He had everything he would ever want in here, and his eyes couldn't help but twitch in the direction of the mini bar. He desperately wanted a drink, he hadn't had one in such a long time. However, he fought his urges as he wanted to be on his guard, at least for tonight because his dad had asked him to watch that no one had followed him onto the yacht. No one was allowed into his lodgings without his permission, it was off limits to all but him now that they had pulled away from the harbour. He lay on his bed, watching the ceiling fan above his head swirl round and round. He started counting how many times it went round in a minute but then he shook his head at himself, realising he was being a complete idiot. He sighed as he got up from the bed and walked over to the window, looking out at the blue ocean around him, and for the first time in a good few hours, he smiled. It was dark outside, and the ocean was a deeper blue than normal, but he still loved it, he realised. He loved being out here and he felt rather exhilarated at being away from everything that troubled him back on land.

He thought back to his conversation with Julian earlier and he realised that he had been pretty lucky. Julian had given Nathan this whole side of the yacht to do whatever he wanted. He said all he had to do was call down to them if he wanted anything. It was perfect really, it was like he was being waited on hand and foot. However, as he turned his back from the window and stared at the vast space of his room, he realised once again that he was alone and that feeling of loneliness crept up on him again. Everywhere he seemed to go he ended up being isolated and it was all because of the same reason. He shook his head of his thoughts before he began to drown in them and decided to go out on to the deck as he was getting rather bored in his room. He walked away from the window and up the stairs to get out of his room and then entered the code to let him exit. Once he was through the door he shut it behind him, pushing on it to make sure it was locked. Once he knew it wouldn't open he began walking down the deck. As he had expected, the space was empty and he couldn't hear any noise from anywhere else on the boat. He figured that everyone was most likely in their beds anyway, given that it was around midnight.

He kept walking, breathing in the cool night air as the breeze softly blew against him. Once he turned the corner he walked over to the edge of the boat and leaned on the railing. He released a long breath and looked up at the clear, dark sky, watching the stars. It was while he was deep in thought that he heard a noise coming from around the corner where he had been walking a mere two seconds ago. The noise startled him and Nathan knew that there shouldn't be anyone on this side of the yacht, let alone at this time. He pushed himself back from the side of the yacht so he was now against the wall, trying to hold in his breath so that he was making as little noise as possible. He noticed a shadow moving towards him and he stilled all his movements, listening carefully. He could hear light breathing, breathing which was not his own. He cursed to himself, wishing he had brought his revolver out with him so that he would have some sort of weapon on him, but he guessed his arms and legs would have to do. He'd thought that he was safe but apparently he wasn't. He stayed as close as he could into the wall, waiting for the person to turn the corner so he could take them down before they had a chance to attack him.

The seconds it took the person to walk around the corner felt like hours to Nathan. As much as he hated to admit it, he realised that he was scared. His heart was pounding in his chest and his palms had begun to sweat. But he then thought of all that had happened to his family over the past few months and his fear soon enough turned to anger. Whoever this person was, he was going to make damn sure that they didn't hurt him. He stood extremely still just waiting, hearing them move closer and closer. Once he thought they were close enough and were just about to turn the corner, he held his breath, not wanting to give his position away. As soon as he noticed the figure walk around the comer he jumped from his hiding spot, grabbing their arms and holding them behind their back so that the person couldn't move any further. He frowned though because when he touched the person, all he heard was a loud scream and it was quite a high pitched scream for a man...

"What the fuck are you doing? Get off me you creep!" Haley shouted as she tried to struggle, but this weirdo had her arms locked behind her back so she was completely immobile. She was also incredibly scared, she had just been walking around the yacht because she couldn't sleep when suddenly somebody jumped her completely out of the blue.

"Sorry, what?" Nathan answered. He quickly realised that he was actually holding onto a woman instead of a big, scary man which was what he had been expecting. He wanted to laugh it off, but instead he just looked confused.

The man was still holding tightly onto her, and she just wanted him to let her go because the position he had her arms in was hurting her. "Get off me! What do you think you're doing?" Haley said as she continued to struggle in his hold. Realising that she wasn't getting anywhere because he was too strong for her, she then brought her leg up behind her and with all the force she had in her she kicked the psycho in the balls. He finally let go of her and fell to his knees, grunting loudly and howling in pain.

"What the hell are you doing, you crazy bitch?" Nathan shouted, holding himself to try to lessen the pain, but damn, the woman had some strength to her.

"What the hell am I doing? What the hell are you doing! Do you normally hide in dark corners of boats and jump on innocent people? Jesus Christ! I'm going to get Julian, he'll have you off here in one second flat you fuc-"

Nathan interrupted the small woman, who was standing in front of him with one hand on her hip and the other wafting around her body with rage, before she could go on any further. "Look, Miss, I think there has been a case of mistaken identity here. I thought you were... well never mind, you shouldn't be here, you are on my side of the yacht!" Nathan was going to apologise to, but then he thought about the fact that this lady had just kicked him in the balls, and that didn't exactly make him warm to her. All he'd done was hold her for a couple of seconds...

"Oh right, I'm sorry," Haley mumbled as her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. She glanced down at the deck before lifting her eyes back up to her attacker, a playful glint residing in them. "I didn't realise that the boat had sides? I think you've been watching Titanic a little too much maybe. But anyway, regardless of whether this is your side or not, that's no reason for you to just jump on someone. I thought you were a rapist or something!" Haley watched as the man in front of her finally stood up and it was then that she took in the appearance of him, and she gasped quietly to herself. She couldn't believe how gorgeous he was. She watched as he towered above her and she wanted to laugh, he wasn't scary looking in the least. Muscular maybe, but not scary. His deep blue eyes looked into hers and for some reason, completely unknown to her, she was finding it pretty impossible to look away.

"Titanic? Lady, what the hell are you on about? And anyway, I thought Julian would've told you this side of the boat is off limits! Do you honestly think you were the only one who got a fright? I didn't know who the hell you were either, and at least I didn't kick you! Look, I am sorry okay, I didn't realise you were... um... a woman," Nathan stuttered. He felt bad because when he finally took the time to look at her, he noticed just how petite she was. He realised that he must have really freaked her out. He watched as her long dark hair blew in the wind, wafting over a scent of delicious vanilla. She was shivering and he desperately wanted to believe that her trembles were caused by the cool air whirling around them but he knew deep down that she was probably just in shock from him being a complete asshole.

"Yeah Titanic, you know Jack and Rose? At the start of the movie they joke about having sides on the ship?" Haley said eagerly.

Nathan shook his head, a rather bewildered expression on his face. He had absolutely no idea what this girl was going on about.

"Please, don't tell me you haven't seen Titanic? It is like the best movie of all time!" Haley responded incredulously when she took in the man's confused face and she giggled, finding it rather strange that he had never seen it. Where the hell had he been living the past few years?

"No, I've not actually. I don't really have much time for stuff like that," Nathan said softly. He thought it was rather odd how quickly they had switched from arguing to discussing movies but he shrugged it off, if it meant she wasn't going to kick him in the balls again he'd spend the whole night talking about these Jack and Rose characters. He couldn't help his eyes roaming over her body, he was a man after all, and he had to admit that this chick was hot. Nathan couldn't stop the smirk which spread across his face as he thought about how just maybe this night may have suddenly got a thousand times better.

"You don't have time to watch a movie? You too busy out frightening random people or something, ninja?" Haley answered sarcastically, still a little bit mortified at what had just happened.

"You're funny, but no... I just do other stuff."

"Other stuff? Sounds rather ominous. Well okay... you're... um... not weird in the slightest. I'm going to go now. I'll make sure that I stay on my side of the ship, for my own personal safety as well as yours," Haley responded and then laughed as she began to walk away, shaking her head at how weird he was. Cute too, but mostly weird.

Nathan desperately tried to think of something to say to keep her here with him, truth be told he wanted her to come back to his room, he was pretty sure that she could keep him company for the night... "Hey, um... you fancy coming in for a drink? You know my way of saying I'm sorry?" Nathan asked while he looked down at the deck, stubbing his toe against the floor. He frowned and cursed himself for acting like a five year old, he had no idea why he was so nervous.

"No, thanks. I mean I have an early start tomorrow, and well I don't know you... so," Haley answered. She would have liked to go to his room for a drink, but she didn't know if she would be able to keep her cool around him. She simply couldn't get over how good looking he was, but then again her father had told her many times not to make friends with people she didn't know, and besides, with the way she had met him, it was probably best if she stayed well clear, what with him being a psycho attacker or ninja or whatever the hell he was.

"Okay, cool," Nathan responded, feeling a little bit deflated. He took it in his stride however because given that they were both stuck on this boat, it wasn't like he couldn't track her down at some point. "Well I guess I'll see you around, Rose," He said with a chuckle, really enjoying the way she smiled back at him.

"Goodnight, Jack," Haley answered and then turned her back on him as she walked away from the mysterious man, making her way back to her cabin.

Nathan laughed lightly, unable to help his eyes which rested on her nicely shaped bum which moved from side to side as she walked away from him, swaying her hips slightly. He realised then and there, as he watched her pretty backside turn the corner, that he desperately wanted her.

Once he heard her footsteps fade into the distance, Nathan then took one last look around, checking that the coast was clear before he walked back to his room. He typed in the code to enter again and closed the door behind him. While he was walking over to his bed, he stopped and pulled his revolver out of the side drawer, placing it under his pillow. Better to be safe than sorry, as his dad would say. He then quickly got changed for bed, thinking over and over about the small girl that had kicked him in the nuts. She really was a feisty one. He then checked the clock on the bedside table, and knowing that he had to get up early to see his personal trainer he jumped into his bed.

He could already tell that tomorrow was going to be a long day and as he shut his eyes, long, dark hair blowing in the gentle breeze and the scent of vanilla swirled around him, completely overtaking every thought in his mind.

**AN – We'd love to know your thoughts on the chapter so do drop us a review.**

**A preview of the next chapter will be available to those of you who want it so let us know in a review if you do want it and we'll get it out to you ASAP.**

**The next chapter will be posted on Monday 26****th**** April :o)**


	3. Let's Get Physical

**AN – Thank you all so much for leaving the lovely reviews for the last chapter, we're so glad you are enjoying the story!**

**We wanted to say a couple of words to those of you without accounts who reviewed and so we couldn't respond personally - **Scott 2312 – **thank you for leaving the review, sorry we didn't get a chance to send the preview, we couldn't see your email address but we hope you enjoy the new chapter.** tlovesnaley2 – **Thanks so much for your kind review. We are so pleased you're enjoying the story and we hope you enjoy the chapter. All will be revealed soon about their backgrounds :o) **Madison - **Thank you for leaving the lovely review, we're glad you like Julian and we hope you enjoy the new chapter.**

**The next chapter will be posted on the 10****th**** May.**

**Many thanks to Pam who did an amazing job reading through this chapter for us. **

**We hope you enjoy the update (as well as the new episode of OTH)!**

**Chapter Two – Let's Get Physical**

Let's get physical, physical  
I wanna get physical  
Let's get into physical

_Physical – Olivia Newton John_

Haley groaned loudly as she rolled herself out of bed, perching herself on the end of the mattress. It was eight o'clock in the morning, and she was absolutely shattered. She had planned to get to bed early last night because she desperately wanted a good night's sleep. She knew that she needed to be fully focussed and well rested, so that she could prepare for her training session with Nathan. She was conscious that everything she had planned, leaving her old life behind, balanced on how today would turn out. She needed to impress him, badly.

But, she didn't sleep very well at all. And after her chance encounter in the middle of the night, she found that she couldn't stop thinking about Jack. Of course, she knew that wasn't actually his name, but that didn't stop him from consuming all of her thoughts. The image of his gorgeous blue eyes didn't leave her head all night. They practically haunted her, and now, she found herself in a complete mess. She chuckled again, for what had to be the hundredth time, as she thought once more about their meeting. She was incredibly mortified that she had kicked him in the balls, but continued to tell herself that anyone would have done it as an act of self-defence. He jumped on her, for Christ's sake!

She couldn't help but wonder what his real name might actually be. She was absolutely positive that it would be something incredibly sexy. His name would definitely be the kind of name that when anyone said it, it would somehow sound important and ring of absolute dominance. She found herself subconsciously licking her lips as a flash of him holding her to his chest with her hands clasped behind her back suddenly flashed through her mind. She certainly wasn't quick to forget the sensations which raced through her veins when his body was pressed up against hers like that. Her thoughts, not so innocently, strayed into thinking about what she would find underneath his clothes...

Just as she began to imagine a tanned, toned stomach, she quickly reprimanded herself. She was one hundred percent positive that she could spend the entire day fantasising about him, and although that would be wholly enjoyable, it would certainly not be a productive use of her time. So she decided she needed to get serious. Jack and his gorgeous abs could wait until a more appropriate time. And besides, she reasoned with herself, they were on a yacht, it wasn't exactly as if he was going anywhere. And if she didn't happen to bump into him again, she could very easily, innocently walk onto his side of the boat like she had done last night; it wasn't against the law, was it? Anyway, if it was, she could just kick him again before he got the Boat Police onto her.

She shook her head to herself; she was thinking about him, still. She utterly hated the fact that a mere meeting with this guy was getting to her so much. She wasn't normally like this, she usually full of spunk. She usually let the men run after her without giving them so much of a glance over her shoulder. She decided that she needed to see him again. Maybe if she did she'd get over this insane fixation she seemed to develop over him. So she agreed with herself that later, once she had finished her training sessions, she was going to try to find him. It wouldn't be hard to think of an excuse as to why she was seeking him out. She could use the cover that she wanted to apologize again for the night before, ask him if his balls are okay after the kicking she had given them? Ask if maybe he needed her to check them, just to make sure...

Haley pushed herself off the bed and wandered over to the small window in her cabin, admiring the bright, blue ocean in front of her. She tried her hardest not to think about Jack, almost having to physically push thoughts of him out of her mind. She forced herself to concentrate on the vista in front of her, which was nothing but sparkly sea, stretching for as far as she could see. The view was absolutely breathtaking. She couldn't stop thinking about how she hardly knew this world at all.

At school, so many of her friends had travelled freely; they had been pretty much everywhere. Back then, she hadn't been too envious of them, but now that she had seen a snippet of what real freedom was like, all she wanted was to see more. She wanted to see everything. She didn't want to feel like she was locked up in a cage, with every last detail of her travel plans penned out for her. She wanted to roam without any hassle, she wanted to see different cultures and meet lots of new people, instead of being confined to hotel complexes. But, as she continued to allow her imagination to run wild, the only thought which entered her head was of her father, and how he would never allow her to do such a thing. Plus, she was pretty sure that once he found her after this little escapade, he would actually lock her up in a cage or something, and possibly throw away the key.

She let out a long sigh, feeling rather like a little girl who knew they were going to get caught for doing something naughty, but who continued to do it anyway, just for the thrill of it. Except, she realised as she looked wistfully out of the window, she didn't feel any sort of thrill, she just felt tired and rather lonely. She felt this rush of fury course through her body while her father continued to consume her thoughts. She felt as though she shouldn't feel guilty for living her life and it angered her that she did feel this way. She was a grown woman now, and in reality no father should be able to rule their daughter when they are past the age of eighteen. Wasn't that the point of being an adult – you were able to live your life as you saw fit, not your parents?

Haley was abruptly taken away from her bitter thoughts of her father when she heard a phone ringing. For a split second, she found herself very confused. She didn't have any phone on her, she had made sure to get rid of her own mobile before she came aboard The Sognatore. She then suddenly became rather frightened. Was there someone in her room with her? No, she reasoned with herself, she would have known if there was. She quickly scanned the room as the phone continued to ring loudly, wondering where the noise was coming from. Her eyes then stopped and focused on the phone she hadn't noticed earlier, which was placed on her bedside table. She let out a deep breath, not realising that she hadn't been breathing in the last thirty seconds, feeling incredibly relieved that there wasn't some creep hiding in the shadows, watching her.

Haley pushed herself away from the window and walked over to the shrilly ringing phone. She picked it up slowly and cautiously, not knowing who the hell would be phoning her at this time in the morning. "Hello?" she answered in a timid voice, ready to slam the phone down if it was anyone remotely suspicious.

"Haley? It's Julian, are you up?"

The familiar voice washed over her and she immediately felt at ease, her tense shoulders relaxing. Her voice went back to sounding normal, instead of being full of scepticism. "Hey, Julian. Yeah, I'm up, just!" she laughed lightly. She glanced down at her attire; her Little Miss Naughty pyjamas were not exactly what she would call appropriate attire to leave her room, but she was out of bed at least.

"Oh, sorry, Haley. I didn't mean to wake you. But seeing as you're up now, could you come down to my office? There are a few people you need to meet. Is that okay? Can you be down here in like ten minutes?" Julian asked, feeling slightly bad that he had interrupted her sleep.

Haley could hear muffled voices in the background and so she knew that people were probably waiting for her. She made a mental note to herself, making sure that she got up earlier tomorrow; it seemed they were early risers on The Sognatore. "Yes, sure, I'll be there!" Haley said quickly, attempting to pull off her pyjama shorts as she answered him. However, in her haste she lost her balance and fell flat onto the floor, dropping the phone as she did so and banging her head off the side of the bed.

Julian could hear the sound of something banging through the phone and was about to ask Haley if everything was alright, but she screamed down the phone before he could even get a word out of his mouth.

"Shit! Stupid fucking shorts!" she shouted loudly as she rubbed the side of her head with one of her hands. She finally managed to pull the shorts off her legs, and chucked them angrily behind her, as if it was somehow their fault that she had fallen over. When she tried to get herself up off the floor, she heard the sound of laughter coming from the phone and she squealed. She turned herself around and looked at the phone which was lying across from her. She was one hundred percent sure that Julian had just heard her swearing her head off, and was now laughing at her. For the second time in the space of a day she found herself absolutely mortified. She sheepishly moved over to the phone and picked it up off the floor, still hearing Julian's deep laugh coming through the line. "Um, sorry about that I just… um...fell." Haley was pretty sure that if she looked in a mirror right now she would find her face an attractive shade of bright red. She was absolutely filled with embarrassment.

"Are you okay, Haley?" Julian asked through his laughter, unable to calm himself down. He didn't have a clue what she had been doing but he still found it incredibly amusing that she had presumably fallen over.

Haley was pretty sure that he wasn't that concerned about her in the slightest, if his laughter was anything to go by. "Just fine, thanks," she said in a monotone voice. She closed her eyes for a brief second, wanting nothing more than for the ground to open up and just swallow her whole. How was she ever going to manage to walk into his office in ten minutes and face all the people he was sitting with? They would obviously know what had happened, and she was completely mortified by simply the thought of meeting these people.

"Right, well, I'm glad you're okay. We'll see you soon then. Don't be getting any injuries on the way down here!" Julian teased as he continued to chuckle at Haley's misfortune. She certainly was a funny one.

Haley didn't find it funny in the slightest, but she laughed anyway, good-naturedly. She didn't want to come across as being too serious and unable to giggle at herself. "Oh, I won't," she responded and then finished the conversation quickly with Julian, because if she continued talking to him, she'd never get to his office in ten minutes. She hung up the phone and realised that she was still sitting on the floor from her earlier fall. She manoeuvred herself, putting her head in her hands as her head shook from side to side. She kept on admonishing herself, telling herself to just get it together. She only had one chance to impress everyone and she really didn't want to blow it.

~*~

Fifteen minutes later, Haley was finally ready. She quickly glanced at herself in the mirror before she left her room, making sure her denim shorts which she had paired with a plain, white tank top, didn't look silly or anything. She let her hair hang loose, deciding that if she was going to be embarrassed any further, she could easily cover her face with her long strands and hide behind it. She then looked down at her watch and cursed, realising she was in fact already late and she hadn't even left yet. She ran out of her cabin and started to move quickly down the deck, trying her hardest to remember where Julian's office was. Once she found the stairs which led to his office, she managed to calm her panic down and she stopping running, Julian's earlier words of her not having any more accidents crossing her mind. She walked down them, jumping the last two, and then hastily made her way to his office, feeling the butterflies flutter nervously in her stomach as she reached the door. She knocked lightly, waiting to be given permission to enter, already hearing the feint murmurs of plenty of voices inside.

"Come in!" Julian called out, hearing the tentative knock at the door, guessing that it was Haley.

Haley took a deep breath and opened the door tentatively, the butterflies now soaring inside her stomach. As soon as she walked through the door, she scanned the room quickly, noticing that Julian, Skills and someone she hadn't yet met were sat around the desk. The stranger was extremely well built, a little too much muscle for Haley's tastes, and as she quickly ran her eyes over his frame, she ascertained extremely rapidly that he had been overdoing it at the gym. She mentally prayed that this stranger wasn't Nathan, as she was pretty sure that their workout methods would differ considerably and that would mean that he would ultimately hate her, which would lead to her instant dismissal from The Songatore…

"Haley, there you are! We were just about to send a search party out for you. You know, just in case you'd had an accident on the way over," Julian sniggered, unable to resist the teasing, and his companions laughed along with him

"Ha, ha, very funny," Haley answered sarcastically. She felt a little bit intimidated by the men she found herself surrounded by and she eyed them cautiously, being sure not to linger her sight on them for too long at a time. She wasn't usually this way; she could handle herself well in mostly any given situation. But the big problem she was facing was the fact that she was nervous. She really didn't want to mess up this gig, she couldn't face going back to America and it didn't exactly help that none of them seemed to be taking her seriously. It only added to her self-consciousness, not to mention her nerves.

"I have to say, Haley, you've given us a fair bit of laughter already this morning, and it isn't even nine o'clock yet!" Julian said as his chuckles began to slowly subside. He pulled a seat over for Haley to sit on, grinning widely at her as he did so.

"I bet I did!" Haley answered, rolling her eyes at herself. She watched as Julian gestured to the seat he had pulled up beside his own and she walked over, parking herself on it when she reached the desk. She was trying very hard not to look any of the men in the eye and instead focussed on her hands which she placed in her lap. She was sure if she caught them smirking at her, she would most likely smack them; she wasn't one for letting people laugh at her and despite the consequences, she wasn't going to start allowing that to happen now, either.

"I just called you here to meet a few of the guys, and help you understand why you are here and what's expected of you, especially when you're around Nathan," Julian stated, his voice switching to a very business-like tone. He was responsible for all the staff on this yacht, so any poor performance reflected incredibly badly on him. And the last person he wanted to have a problem with him was Dan Scott.

"Okay, sounds good," Haley answered, feeling incredibly happy and relieved that they were now off the subject of her clumsiness. She smiled as she raised her eyes to the other men, pleased that they were no longer laughing at her.

"Well, you know Skills, and this is Owen, he is Nathan's bodyguard." Julian nodded towards the large man sitting next to Skills.

"Hey, nice to meet you." Haley shook Owen's hand, breathing an incredible sigh of relief that he wasn't Nathan. She couldn't help but wonder when she was going to meet this Nathan person and she suddenly found herself feeling a little bit more intimidated over him, especially as he apparently needed a bodyguard. She, once again, wondered who the hell he was and what he did for a living. Everyone seemed to be scared of him, and warned her constantly about him. People seemed to be bending over backwards to make sure he was happy, so it was obvious he was important. But how important was he? And was he that much of a threat to someone, he needed constant protection?

"Nice to meet you too, Miss. I have to say I'm pretty sure that Nathan will like you," Owen said as he eyed Haley obviously, and then laughed. He looked around at the other two men as he did so, winking.

She didn't know how to respond to that statement. "Well, um, that's good, I guess." Haley responded shyly, wishing the ground would open up and swallow her whole for the second time that morning. What the hell did he mean by that?

"If he tries anything you're not comfortable with, you just let me know, okay?" Owen said with a chuckle, taking in Haley's confused and rather repulsed expression. "And I'll sort him out for you."

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks," Haley responded as she smiled softly, looking down at her hands which were still rested in her lap. She was sure that once again her cheeks were a vibrant shade of red, and she mentally cursed herself for blushing so easily.

"Hey, Shorty, you know if Nathan gives you any hassle, you're gonna come to me, not him, right?" Skills joked, wanting to ease the tension a little bit, and save Haley from what he could tell was an embarrassing situation for her.

"Of course, Skills, who else would I need to defend my honour?" Haley laughed as she raised her head from where she had been staring at her lap, batting her eyelids over at Skills as she did so. She decided she might as well play along, rather than just be embarrassed about what Owen had just said to her.

"Damn, how about you just forget about giving Nathan a training session and start on me instead?" Skills responded, raising his eyebrows suggestively at Haley, until he felt Owen smack him in the arm, diverting his attention away from her and over to him.

"Right, you two, get to work! You'll end up scaring poor Haley off!" Julian ordered as a large smirk spread across his face. He had known that Haley would fit right in here, and he was pleased with the rapport she was building with Skills and Owen, but he still needed to talk seriously with her about her role.

"Alright, I get it. I see what's happening here? Mr C just wants Shorty all to himself!" Skills muttered, winking over at Haley. He gave Julian a playful glare and then lifted himself up off his chair, leaving the room with Owen following behind him.

Julian just rolled his eyes and shook his head at the idiots, before he turned his attention back to Haley once the door was closed.

Haley just laughed and shrugged her shoulders, letting him know it didn't really bother her. As a matter of fact she really liked Skills; he was welcoming and was incredibly nice to her. In fact, he was the only person who hadn't pestered her about how important this Nathan guy was. She was pretty sure when she met him he would be full of his own self-importance, in other, simpler words, a prick. But, luckily for her, she could handle pricks; she had known enough of them back at school, and had met plenty of Alpha-Males in her short life.

"Okay, Haley, let's get started. Basically, as you know you're Nathan's personal trainer, right? Now I know you are qualified and everything and you seem like you're a nice girl… but I just need to tell you... you can't ask him anything, okay? Don't enquire, don't be too pushy and make sure you watch what you say when you're around him, and when you're not for that matter. Just keep your head down and do your job."

There was something scary about the way that Julian was talking, and it had caught Haley slightly off guard. However, instead of being scared she found that she was slightly intrigued. Who the hell was this guy? She couldn't believe how dodgy this yacht actually sounded. When she had applied to be a personal trainer, she had no idea that all of this stuff would come with it. These people were crazy, and the hush-hush nature she was supposed to adopt, as well as the whole 'ask no questions' thing, reminded her of something her dad would do, and that annoyed the hell out of her.

"Haley, do you understand what I'm saying?" Julian asked, realising that Haley had completely zoned out and didn't appear to be paying him any attention whatsoever.

"Yes, I do. I'm to just go about doing my job and not ask any questions." Haley summarised what Julian had just said to her. She couldn't help that fact that she now wanted to know everything. It was like Julian had just dangled a treat in front of a puppy and then snatched it away again. She found it quite exciting that there was something going on here, and she wanted desperately to find out exactly what it was.

"Also, I forgot the mention that the other side of the yacht is off limits-" Julian went to proceed but found he was cut off when he noticed a tall redhead sauntering into his office in his peripheral vision.

Haley saw Julian glance up and she turned herself around, finding that someone had just walked into his office unannounced. She couldn't help but think that this behaviour was incredibly rude, has this chick never heard of knocking on a door before entering? Where the hell were her manners? Haley cast her eyes over her form, taking in her appearance. She wore a very short, black skirt, and a tight, white shirt, with one too many buttons unfastened, showing an eyeful of cleavage. Haley rolled her eyes to herself; she didn't know they were hiring hookers on this yacht as well.

"Hey, Rachel," Julian greeted her, gesturing for her to sit down next to Haley. "Take a seat."

"I'd rather stand; I'm not staying here long. What was it you wanted?" Rachel asked in a bored tone.

Haley noticed that this 'Rachel' person's voice sounded incredibly cold and she seemed very uninterested. She had already decided that she didn't like her, and Rachel wasn't exactly helping her case for getting her to change her opinion of her as she watched Rachel's eyes bore in her. She was looking at her as if she didn't approve of her in the slightest, as if Haley was somehow beneath her.

"Rachel, I want you to meet Haley. She's going to be Nathan's personal trainer," Julian informed her.

Haley couldn't help but notice that he looked rather on edge, as if he wanted Rachel to approve of her, or rather of his choice of hiring her.

"Just Nathan's personal trainer?" Rachel asked, her eyebrow raised at Julian.

Julian quickly recovered, not wanting Rachel stretching her claws at Haley already. "Well, Haley is the boat's personal trainer," he responded.

"Mmmm, I see. Would you stand," Rachel commanded Haley, not really giving her the option of not doing as she asked.

Haley would usually have said something to her, like telling the bitch to back the hell off, but she got the vibe that she needed to impress her from Julian. So she stood up, not bothering to look at Rachel as she did so, however she still felt her eyes scrutinise her closely.

"Aren't you a little small to be a personal trainer? I mean would you even be able to reach half of the machines?" Rachel laughed, pleased that she had found something to pick on.

Haley rolled her eyes to herself upon hearing Rachel laugh at her; she obviously found her remark incredibly amusing. She felt the anger rush through her veins as she thought of an appropriate come back. She didn't get a chance to answer back though because when she opened her mouth to do so, she saw Julian glare at her from the corner of her eye, and she decided to keep quiet. She managed to calm herself down, and resolved that she wouldn't let her temper get the better of her. After all, this job was all she had.

"I take that as a no, then. Well, Nathan needs the best, and I have to be honest, you don't really look like you're the best. I was hoping for a male," Rachel responded as she looked over at Julian, and noticed that he seemed to suddenly find the clock on his wall extremely interesting.

Haley wanted to kick her, or punch her, just to show her how strong she really was, of course. Who the hell did she think she was, saying all this crap to her? And why was Julian not saying anything to her, why was he letting her get away with talking to her like this?

"However, circumstances being as they are, you will have to do. So, as I was saying, Nathan deserves and wants the best. He has a strict schedule he needs to stick to and you need to make sure he works out well every day, as well as catering for everyone else who wants to use you. I want you to know that I will be watching you; I have had a new camera installed in the gym, in addition to those around the yacht. So, therefore, you don't want to mess up, because if you do... well let's just say there's only one way off of this boat if you don't impress me, and its from the very top deck," Rachel said seriously, wanting this girl to know that she wasn't messing with her.

Suddenly, Haley had an image flash through her mind of her walking the plank, which had been what Rachel was insinuating. She could see it now, Rachel pushing her off as she sharks circled beneath her in the water, and she burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry was there something funny about what I said?" Rachel's stone cold face asked.

"Erm, no sorry. Odd habit," Haley answered as she bit down on her lip, trying to stop herself from giggling any longer, but still some laughter managed to make its way through her lips.

"Great, Julian. Well done. You managed to hire Nathan a mentally challenged trainer, nice job!" Rachel said sarcastically, abruptly walking out of the room as her phone rang. She quickly placed her headset back on her head, vowing to keep a watchful eye on this Haley girl. She could tell that she wasn't up to the job, and she didn't want to have to answer to Dan Scott when she messed everything up.

"Haley, what the hell was that?" Julian said once he was sure Rachel was out of earshot. He walked over to her, shaking his head and laughing quietly to himself.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to laugh at her… I just had this image in my head of me walking the plank, I'm sorry! But, you could have warned me there was a bitch on board!" Haley scolded, wondering once again who the hell Rachel was as she hadn't even managed to tell her what her role was, she'd been too busy sizing Haley up for the role of personal trainer for formal introductions.

"Sorry, I forgot about her. And yeah, she is a bitch, a big bitch!" Julian chuckled, shaking his head. "You really shouldn't have laughed at her, you know, she'll hold that against you."

Haley rolled her eyes; the fact that Rachel would hold that against her didn't surprise her in the slightest. "Who is she? And why did she tell me to stand up? I felt like I was getting interrogated or something!"

"Well, she pretty much just sorts everything out for Nathan. She runs his life basically while he's onboard." Julian returned. He wished Dan had chosen someone else to do that job, but there was no way in hell he was going to argue with the boss. He simply had to accept it.

"Lucky him," Haley responded sarcastically, suddenly feeling rather sorry for this Nathan guy because he had to deal with that cow on a daily basis.

"Yeah, she is a little high maintenance," Julian said.

"A little?" Haley returned as she cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, a lot! She is hot though..." Julian responded

Haley noticed that Julian seemed to be deep in thought and she shook her head at him. "God, all men are the same! She may be hot, but she is a total super bitch. She'd probably moan all the way through sex!" she said, trying to make a point, but then she realised that her word choice definitely hadn't been the best.

"Mmm, moan? Isn't that what normally happens..." Julian returned with a raised eyebrow of his own before he burst out laughing.

"You know what I mean, jackass! She would just be annoying… and just… God, would you please stop laughing at me!" Haley hit Julian on his side and then she started laughing along with him. She really needed to think more before she opened her mouth, she realised.

Julian was pleased that she was laughing along with him; it seemed she was getting more comfortable around him, which was a good thing.

Once Haley had stopped laughing, she couldn't help but cast her mind back to Julian's earlier words about watching what she said around Nathan, and even though she knew he wouldn't be able to answer, she still had to ask. "What the hell is going on here anyway, Julian? All of this secrecy and stuff, its just weird..." She commented, realising she was trapped on the ocean in a yacht full of freaks, minus like three people.

"You know I can't tell you that, Haley, like I said; no questions." Julian turned serious, his laughter halting abruptly as he looked Haley straight in the eye. "Just watch yourself okay? You don't want to get yourself into trouble, especially here, and I took a huge chance on you. Please."

"I won't, I won't. I promise okay?" Haley smiled softly at him, and then looked out of the window at the vast blue ocean. Once again, she couldn't stop thinking about what she had gotten herself into.

Haley realised that she didn't know much about where they were going. She didn't know anything about what was going on and why there was all this secrecy. She didn't know who she was ultimately working for, either. But all she did know was that this was certainly going to be one hell of a ride.

~*~

"What do you mean she's not there?" The angry voice asked, incredibly furious with what he was being told. He actually couldn't believe what he was hearing and he felt like his whole world was suddenly crashing around him.

"I mean it, she isn't here! I've been waiting for over an hour, checked the house and everything. Her phone is off... she's just… gone!" Junk muttered into the phone. He had been hoping that his boss would have heard from her, but he hadn't, and instead he had to break the news that she had disappeared. He cringed as he heard the furious breathing sound down the phone and he sincerely hoped he would be able to find Haley, if he didn't, he knew that there was a chance his life could be the price of her vanishing. There was silence for a minute, and the breathing he could hear down the line continued to speed up. Sweat started to form on his forehead as he wiped it away with a tissue, waiting rather nervously to hear his fate.

"You, you checked the house?" The voice finally answered, in a calm and controlled manner.

"Yeah, I looked for clues and everything to see if I could work out where she went, but I couldn't find anything, not a thing!" Junk responded, eager to let his boss know that he had at least tried to find her whereabouts himself.

"Nothing?" The voice answered again, breathing a desolate and heavy sigh.

"Nope. What should I do boss?" Junk asked, wanting to do whatever it took to keep him happy.

"Find her, Junk. Just find her. I don't give a crap what it takes; you aren't to come home until you've got Haley with you. Do you understand me?"

~*~

It was just before four in the afternoon and Haley felt the butterflies fluttering relentlessly in her stomach as she waited for the boss to arrive for his first session with her. From what Julian had told her, she knew him to be a very important man and she was to be on her most professional behaviour with him. She couldn't help but think back to her interview she'd had with Julian just the day before; he'd told her that if the boss didn't think she was any good then she'd be kicked off the boat. Just the thought of having to leave sent her mind into a complete frenzy. She knew the instant her feet landed on dry land her father would use all of his powers to track her down and bring her back to America. She didn't even want to think about the consequences of disobeying his order for she knew that she would be in a whole heap of trouble. She sighed as she walked around the gym, her eyes moving over the high-tech machines while she tried to stop herself from thinking of such things and instead forced herself to concentrate on the fabulous turn of events her life had taken. She was so pleased to be here, on this glorious boat, and up here, with the sunshine pouring into the ultra deluxe glass-sided gym, she felt this incredible sense of freedom rush through her entire body.

The Sognatore was on the move, having left Cannes last night. Haley didn't have a clue which direction it was going in, when or where it was going to end up… in fact she knew very little about this voyage. She felt this sense of adventure course through her veins, the spontaneity and pure genius of her decision to bag herself this job making the smile spread widely across her face. As the mega-yacht sliced effortlessly through the blue Mediterranean waves, Haley lay on her back on one of the pristine mats and stretched herself out, trying to dispel the nerves she felt over her upcoming training session from her stomach.

Her own iPod was sitting in the speaker doc, belting out some old school dance tunes which were great for a high energy workout. She'd spent some time this morning when she had first learned about this session with the boss of the boat composing a playlist for it. She wondered whether he would mind that she'd bought her own music, but the familiarity of it would calm her nerves somewhat, and hopefully create some privacy away from anyone who might be passing the door to the gym, either unintentionally or on purpose.

She also knew from discussions with Julian and Skills earlier this morning that the gym was hooked up to the yacht's monitoring system and, as if sensing her thoughts, she saw the small camera in the corner of the room rotate towards her. She wouldn't mind betting that Rachel was sat watching the screens in the camera room. She felt her face screw up in distaste as she thought of Rachel. Why she was so unfriendly towards her she didn't know, but it was obvious she felt rather protective of the boss. She could still feel the waves of hostility washing over her as she'd been introduced to her as the boat's personal trainer. She shivered slightly as if she were trying to shake the feeling off her body while she continued to stretch out.

She finished stretching her leg out and rolled her eyes at herself as the image of that man who had attacked her last night flashed through her mind, for what had to be the hundredth time today. She'd taken to calling him Jack, as she didn't know what his real name was, and she stifled a giggle when she thought of him sunk on the floor, howling in pain after she'd kicked him. However, the giggle soon turned into a soft sigh as she remembered that sexy smirk of his.

Berating herself for thinking of Jack when she should be concentrating on preparing for the session, she lifted up her other leg and stretched it out, turning her mind back to thoughts of the upcoming training time. She still didn't know a thing about this boss person, who he was, what he was doing on this boat, where he was going... he was like a big mystery. She bit down on her lip as she remembered that she hadn't told anyone about her background either, and she certainly didn't plan on telling anyone about the type of family she came from. She took a deep breath as she continued to stretch, blocking out thoughts of how livid her father would be when he found out that she'd done a runner.

She sighed to herself when she realised that her stomach was now fluttering uncontrollably with nerves, the self-doubt beginning to make itself known. Would she be good enough for the boss? Would he like her? And what would it be like working with him one to one? From what she'd gathered, his father was a very powerful man and she guessed that he was next in line to take on the reins, so he must command a great deal of respect. He had a boat full of staff rushing around after him for goodness sake. Her thoughts then moved to the pending training session and what he would be expecting from her. She couldn't be sure who'd trained him before, or how fit he was. And if he was mega-fit, would he suss her lack of experience?

Haley had completed her gym-instructing qualification as an evening course at university, thinking it would come in handy one day, and it was also something else she could add to the bottom of her CV. Not that she really needed a job of her own, but still she didn't want to have to depend on her family forever, she wanted to have some means of independence from them. But she hadn't been a proper practicing instructor for years, the only personal training she'd done recently had been putting together some workouts for her friends in Cannes, and they were hardly mega-fit, important boss people who she desperately needed to impress.

Of course, she always made it sound as if she was way more confident than she really was, especially when Julian had interviewed her. But now Haley's stomach rolled with doubts, and she wondered what she was doing here, whether she was just about to make a huge fool of herself. However, there was nothing she could do about it now, it wasn't like she was just going to jump ship, she would just have to bluff her way through the session and hope that the boss wasn't as experienced as she'd thought he would be.

She pushed herself off the mat and stood up, leaning forward so that she could do a deep forward bend, pressing her hands down to the floor with her legs apart, closing her eyes as she felt the stretch run through her body, relaxing her some more. She then opened her eyes, about to push herself back into a standing position and gasped when she saw her midnight attacker, Jack, from last night standing in the doorway behind her, watching her with a wide grin spread right across his incredibly handsome face.

Nathan couldn't help the wide smirk which spread across his face, as he continued to stare at this beautiful ass which was pushed up in the air, his fingers itching to touch it. He hadn't been able to tear his eyes away from it to glance at the face of this woman instructor, but he wasn't too bothered about that because her ass was proving to be an incredibly welcome sight. She was toned, he could tell instantly from the small area his eyes were honed in on and he couldn't help but think of what the ass would feel like should he give it a quick squeeze. In fact, there wasn't anything for him to think about. He already knew how good it would feel in his hands.

Even framed as he was, upside down with a fluffy, white towel flung over his shoulder, Haley couldn't help but think that he was even more gorgeous than she had remembered, not that she'd been able to seem much of him last night or anything, but still, he was so good looking it was slightly unnerving. She couldn't stop staring into his lovely blue eyes which were almost the same colour of the same sea that the Songatore was currently gliding through. She noticed that his eyes weren't looking at hers, but were instead hooked on her ass, and she quickly grew completely mortified, realising that she was practically shoving it in his face. Feeling the blood rush to her cheeks, she quickly stood up, giving herself a head rush in the process while she wondered what Jack was doing here in the gym. "Good morning, Jack... shit... I mean sir," she said, realising her faux pas. She couldn't believe that she'd just called him Jack to his face, and  
she'd sworn, god, what a mess. She took a deep breath and willed herself to calm down before she continued. "I was just-"

Nathan blinked a couple of times, helping to bring himself out of fantasies of this woman's ass and back to the present. When his gaze returned from its blurry state, he realised that it was the girl he'd attacked last night standing in front of him, and he couldn't help but chuckle at her when he realised that she'd called him Jack. He felt rather elated that she was the personal trainer; he'd been wondering how he'd manage to get some time alone with her again ever since he'd returned to his room last night. His eyes ran quickly over her attire, realising that she wasn't wearing much at all, just some tiny shorts which clung to her toned legs and a tight fitting training top, allowing her glorious curves to be shown off to perfection. He felt like rubbing his hands together in glee; this was most definitely going to be a fun training session. When his eyes settled back on her face, he could see that she was slightly embarrassed, and he  
took pity on her, even though she had kicked him in the balls. However, despite that, he wanted things to be comfortable with her, for some strange reason he felt rather drawn to her. "Okay, Rose," he said with a chuckle. "Before we start, can we cut the 'sir' crap? In the gym, it's Nathan, okay?" he responded. He then walked casually towards her before stopping a respectable distance from her, waiting for her instruction; after all, he was on her turf now.

Haley's eyes grew ridiculously wide as she realised that Jack, or Nathan rather, was here for a training session, which meant that he was the boss that everyone had been going on about. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her whole, especially when she thought back to what she had done to him last night. She mentally berated herself, wishing that she would think before she acted sometimes. Of course he was important, he'd talked about sides of the boat, letting her know that she was on his side last night. He was the Rose of this ship, and she was the Jack. Completely embarrassed by her behaviour, she watched as he walked towards her nonchalantly, as if he got a new gym instructor every day. She didn't think that would be so far from the truth anyway, especially when she thought of how wealthy he had to be and quite possibly how much travelling he must do. "Okay... so... Nathan, um... shall we get started?" She gestured to the bench she'd set up in front of the mirror and the stack of weights. But he didn't move. She smothered her hair behind her ear, aware of his deep eyes boring into her. She swallowed; nervous she might have already messed up. People like Nathan probably weren't used to others making decisions for them. "So what do you want to do?" she hurriedly asked, trying to make amends.

Nathan couldn't help but raise his eyebrows at her. Julian had been right, she was feisty, and he liked it. He shook his head to himself, glad that she wasn't just pandering to him like everyone else on this boat, it was rather refreshing. "I guess some upper body work would be good, I'm feeling a bit stiff." He tore his gaze away from her face and placed his manicured hand on his shoulder and rotated his arm, watching as her eyes followed it's movements, and he made sure to tense his muscles, he might have even puffed his chest out a bit, before he walked over to the bench she had previously gestured to, the smirk still present on his face.

"Okay, what kind of exercise are you used to?" Haley asked, wanting to ascertain just how much exercise he did. Judging from the look of him, she knew it had to be a fair amount, he was nicely toned, big but not too big it was unnatural. Her eyes stayed completely fixed on his muscular arm and chest. She tore her eyes away and lifted them to his face, a knowing smile spread across his cheeks. She blushed slightly, well aware that she had just been caught staring and shifted on her feet slightly as she waited for his answer.

Nathan couldn't wipe the grin from his face, feeling rather chuffed that she was staring. The blush which spread across her cheeks was really endearing as well, and he couldn't help the fact that his eyes followed the pink hue down her neck and to the front of her chest. He shook his head slightly, realising that he was supposed to be answering her question instead of wondering just how far down that gorgeous blush of hers went. "Less than I should. But I've started working out with Owen recently, you know, pumping weights," Nathan explained. He then lifted his gaze to her face, hoping that she would be impressed. However, he felt rather put out by the frown he saw spread across her delicate features. "What?"

"I…I mean… I don't want to interfere, but it seems to me, well from the look of him anyway, that Owen could be heading for some serious injuries, and you could too, if you follow his lead. Besides, you... well you have very… different physiques," Haley stuttered, wondering if she was stepping over some kind of invisible line. She knew that the ridiculously beefy Owen was his bodyguard so she wasn't sure if Nathan would be offended from what she was saying about him.

Nathan remained silent as he turned to sit down on the bench, unable to feel anything but complete wonder at the audacity of this girl. She was telling him that his bodyguard was too muscular, that was what she had just said, in a roundabout way, wasn't it? No one usually ever, apart from his father and his brother of course, had the guts to tell him anything was wrong with his life, they were usually too scared of the consequences. But then again, he guessed that she knew absolutely nothing about his life anyway, which was nice, it was different.

Now, as she watched Nathan sit down on the bench in his white, skin tight t-shirt and baggy shorts, the fact that she had said that he and Owen had different physiques seemed to be a complete understatement of epic proportions. As far as Haley was concerned, Nathan had a perfect body. He was slim, had an impeccable chest and his shoulders were very well defined. His skin was tanned and glowing with health. She felt an almost overwhelming urge to place her hands on his shoulders and feel his muscles, but luckily she managed to resist the temptation sitting in front of her. "Anyway, I don't think you need to overdo it. You're in good shape, if you don't mind me saying," she blurted out and then quickly covered her mouth with her hand, realising to her absolute horror that she really was having a severe case of verbal diarrhoea today. She watched as Nathan laughed, tipping his head back. God, even his teeth were perfect.

"No, Haley, I don't have a problem with a beautiful girl telling me I'm in great shape," Nathan responded when he'd managed to get his laughter out of his system. He smiled over at her, hoping that he was conveying just how much he was enjoying her company with his look. It had been so long since he'd just been able to relax and converse with someone, and he remembered how much he missed it. Maybe being stuck on this boat wouldn't be such a bad thing, after all, the only person he'd thought was following him turned out to be his incredibly sexy gym instructor, and from the look of her he felt rather certain that she wouldn't be any danger to him at all. At least physically.

Haley smiled, completely embarrassed at what he had just said to her. He'd remembered her name, and that had to have been from when Julian told him about her because she certainly hadn't introduced herself to him. And he had called her beautiful. She bit down on her lip and looked down at the ground, seeing her training shoes in her field of vision, and she suddenly remembered where she was and who she was with. She had a job to do, and right now, she was being incredibly unprofessional.

"Just lucky genes," Nathan explained, thinking of his father who had a very similar build to him, and was also ridiculously strong, much more so than you would think just by looking at him. He watched as she bit down on her lip and he practically had to stifle the groan from escaping through his mouth. Since when had he begun to find lip biting appealing? He quickly shook his head, confused slightly by his thoughts. He wanted to get this conversation back to at least a semi-professional topic. "I could do with some advice though. My hip hurts occasionally on this side."

Feeling rather relieved that he was steering the conversation back to their main purpose for being here in the gym, and eager to give him some advice, she watched as he gestured to the right side of his body. "One of the reasons your hip might be slightly out is if your glute med is weak," Haley responded.

"My what?" Nathan asked, not having a clue what she was going on about. That might be because his eyes had begun to wander again. They seemed to have a mind of their own now.

"Oh." Haley smiled at the rather cute confused expression which was now present on his face, and giggled quietly when she saw his brow furrow slightly. "It's a muscle group here," she said, slapping the back of her thigh.

"Weak?" Nathan said as he repeated what she had said before in his head. His ego felt rather bruised that she thought of him as weak. He could feel the frown on his forehead become deeper and he wondered why he was trying so hard to impress her. Usually he wasn't bothered either way but something about her was completely different to how he usually felt when he first met someone.

Nathan didn't sound as if he had room for weakness of any kind in his life. "Well... probably not that weak," Haley conceded. "But don't worry. It's easily fixed with a few exercises." She couldn't help but think that she had most definitely overstepped that invisible line now if she hadn't done so before, and so she was eager to get this training session started, more for her own benefit. Hopefully once she got started she wouldn't feel the need to talk to him so much, and consequently land herself in a huge pool of scalding hot water. "Okay, let's start on the warm up." She smiled at him and then walked over to the iPod, turning up the volume as Eric Prydz boomed through the speaker system.

"Hey, I like this music," Nathan said as he watched Haley wander back towards him, unable to help the way his eyes roamed over her body. She was absolutely stunning. Her long, dark hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, allowing him the absolutely fabulous view of her neck, and as his eyes lingered there he had the strangest urge to want to run his nose along it. He knew she would smell absolutely divine.

"Believe me, it'll get more hardcore when I really start to work you," Haley said once she walked over to where he was seated on the bench, risking a familiar tone. "Now get down on the mat, we've got some stretching to do." She'd said it before she'd even thought about it. She'd just issued him with a direct order. She instantly felt those butterflies which had been resting peacefully inside her stomach begin to awaken and flutter ferociously, causing her to feel slightly sick. But instead of telling her to get lost, he nodded courteously, professionally even, and did as he was told, folding his perfect frame into a sitting position on the mat beside the bench.

Nathan managed to bite back the smirk he could feel forming and instead just nodded his head and moved down onto the floor. No one, except for his father, ever told him what to do, so the way she was currently being with him was something completely new to him. He found her domineering tone quite a turn on, and he couldn't help but wonder if she would be the same way in bedroom too.

Maybe Haley had got him all wrong. Maybe he wasn't the control freak everyone had made him out to be. Or maybe he was and he had just decided to make an exception in her case. Whichever, it didn't really matter. She was being paid to teach him, and that was exactly what she was going to do. She was simply going to remain professional and in doing so keep her place here on the boat, instead of being thrown off it at the next available opportunity.

"One thing first." Nathan winked at Haley, and then he took his towel off his shoulder, aimed it at the surveillance camera and effortlessly threw it in the general direction of where it was hooked to the wall. The towel landed right over the lens and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief, because if the thing had just landed on the floor he would have looked like a right idiot. "I think gym time should be private, don't you?"

Haley was slightly bewildered as to why he was throwing his towel over the camera and the panic started to build deep inside of her. But any question in her mind that he might have an ulterior motive for cutting off the camera was immediately laid to rest by his gentle, sweet smile. She smiled right back at him. And in that moment they seemed to form some kind of unspoken pact. For a second she felt a hot liquid feeling spreading through her body like a wildfire, but she quickly covered it up, berating herself for feeling something so stupid. She was just his personal trainer, that was all. She cleared her throat and made Nathan lie down on the mat. Once he had settled, she lifted up his leg and pressed his knee towards his chest, so that she could stretch him out. However, as soon as she touched his muscular leg, that feeling started up again. She mentally scalded herself and reminded herself for the thousandth time that she had to be professional.

Nathan groaned with pleasure and shut his eyes. God, how could stretching feel this good? He momentarily entertained the idea that it was simply Haley who was making him feel this good, but then she applied a little more pressure to his leg and the thought then fluttered right out of his mind.

"Just breathe," Haley encouraged him as she held his leg in position, stretching out his muscles. She wanted to run her hands up and down his leg, to fully appreciate the strength of him. But she managed to stop herself and made absolutely sure that her hands didn't wander anywhere.

"So do you get this intimate with everyone on the boat?" Nathan asked.

What did he mean? Intimate? Did he mean she was being too intimate with him? "Is this too much? I was only-," Haley started but was quickly saved from her rambling by Nathan who interrupted her.

"Haley, lighten up, okay? I was just teasing you," Nathan said as he interrupted her and opened his eyes, smiling at her as she swapped over his legs. "All I meant was that this feels great. I wondered who else you'd worked your magic on."

Relieved that he wasn't annoyed with her, Haley felt buoyed up with confidence. "I haven't had the chance to be honest, I only arrived yesterday, and Rachel has me on rather a tight rota." She said as she held his leg in position, stretching it out like she had the other.

Nathan smiled. "Oh yes, Rachel," he said, knowing exactly what she was like.

Haley moved Nathan's arm across his body and leant down on his shoulder. He groaned again with pleasure as the muscles stretched out, and Haley felt something inside her twitch again. Something she hadn't felt for a very long time. She ignored it though and remained quiet, wondering if Nathan knew exactly what Rachel was like. She noted the tone to his voice and felt rather reassured that he had confided in her like that. It seemed her dislike of Rachel was shared, which was nice.

"Rachel came with the yacht," Nathan whispered. "I didn't choose her." He absolutely hated Rachel, and he wondered if his father had put her on the yacht by way of subtly punishing him for not joining the family business. She was rude and completely lacked any sort of personal skills. He honestly didn't know why his father liked her so much. But he trusted her for some very strange reason. He wondered why, because he certainly wouldn't trust her as far as he could throw her.

Haley could see Nathan looking at her and she smiled at him. She felt absurdly flattered that he was confiding in her, but she knew she couldn't comment on Rachel herself. Not while there was still a chance she might be listening in. The camera might be covered but that didn't mean that the noise would be blocked out. Though her iPod was still playing rather loudly. She breathed in a couple of times. "Just relax," she said unsure of whether she was talking to herself or to him. She had to get this workout right; she was determined to do a good job. "Breathe out."

Ten minutes later, Haley was more in her stride and had really stepped up the pressure. Nathan was currently doing chin-ups at the bar and she was admiring the flex of his arm muscles, which looked like they were about to rip his shirt.

"So do you have an opinion on everyone then?" Nathan asked as he pulled his chin up to his hands on the bar.

She'd just explained why she thought Owen was a typical macho show-off, which she thought was slightly warranted given how he'd addressed her earlier. "I suppose so," she said. "Doesn't everyone?"

"So, what's your opinion of me?" Nathan asked as he continued to hoist himself up at the bar. He made sure to listen carefully to her answer, for some reason it was ridiculously important to him.

That you're possibly the most gorgeous man I've ever met and, with your butt right in front of my face like this, you're almost irresistible.

However, she managed to bite her tongue. She most certainly wasn't going to out the fact that she found him insanely attractive. "That you can work harder," Haley said instead, retreating into the relative safety of work talk once more. "Come on, put your back into it. Five more."

Nathan had to chuckle at her. "Jesus, Haley. You're a hard taskmaster," he groaned as he did as he was told.

"And I get results. Now move it!" Haley ordered. She would get results, she thought. And the best result she could imagine would be to spend as much time as possible alone like this with Nathan.

Ten more minutes later, she had him on the bench, when Blackstreet came on the iPod.

Haley cringed, wondering why she had put this on the playlist. "It's a bit old school," she said apologetically.

"I love it," Nathan said with a smile. His whole body was wet with sweat and he could feel it beginning to run down his forehead. He lay on the bench looking up at Haley, puffing out his cheeks.

"Warmed up then?" She smiled down at him as he nodded his head. "Ready for these?" she asked, placing the dumb-bells in his hands.

"Of course," Nathan responded. He certainly wasn't going to say no to anything she asked of him today, especially after her comment about him being weak. He was going to show her just how strong he was. He desperately wanted to impress her.

She watched him press the dumbbells up above his head. When he'd done his sets, she lifted them out of his hands without giving him any praise. She could tell he was showing off. She'd met men like him all the time in the gym back at the University, and suddenly she was right back on familiar turf. As she looked down at him, she could see the challenge in his eyes, the smug look as if he were just waiting for her to say something positive. She didn't though; she wasn't going to give in that easily. "Now I want you to do twenty rows with the dumb-bells like this." She half knelt on the leather bench, one knee and one hand on it, keeping her other arm straight by her side. Then she bent up her elbow and brought up the dumbbell to waist height. She looked up suddenly and found that Nathan was staring straight at her ass, as Blackstreet continued to belt out that they 'like the way you work it'. Oh my god, she thought. Did Nathan find her attractive?

Nathan couldn't stop staring at her ass. It was just perfectly toned, and wasn't too big, nor too small either. And as she hovered next to him he watched as a lock of her hair escaped from her ponytail, and he had to physically restrain his hand from moving to tuck it behind her ear. He may have teased her for being too intimate with him, but that would be taking things way too far.

Forget it, she told herself. Nathan could have any woman in the whole world. Why on earth would he be interested in her? Especially as on this boat she was simply just an employee and it was clear to her that he was this extremely wealthy man. Cinderella stories were for kids, not directed as some runaway girl from a family she found entirely too suffocating. She shook her head at herself and told herself to not even think the thought, betting her life that this Prince Charming had already been bagged by someone else anyway. Someone much prettier than she was. Someone perfect. Still, she felt gratified when he blushed and looked away. She certainly wouldn't mind it if she were to be proved wrong.

Nathan could feel the heat rising in his cheeks at being caught staring and he looked away from her. God, he never got like this so why was he starting to now?

"On you get," Haley said as she made way for him on the bench. "I think you need bigger weights. You can take them."

Damn straight Nathan could take them. He took the new weights Haley offered him and began doing as she had just shown.

Haley watched him as he did as he was told. He was hurting. She could tell he was. She made him do two sets of twenty. "Now I want you to do ten press-ups."

"No problem," Nathan replied, dropping to the mat. His arms were killing him but there was no way he was going to admit defeat. He'd show her the meaning of the word weak. It certainly wasn't something you should associate with Nathan Scott, that was for sure.

Haley could see his arms shaking. "Those were easy," she said, knowing they hadn't been. She joined him on the mat. "So, now I want you to add in an extension. A press up," she said, demonstrating one, "then pivot to the side, so that you're just on one arm and then put your other arm up like this, so you're like a star on the side." It took strength and agility. Nathan looked less sure of himself. After four he was flagging. At six he lost his balance.

Nathan couldn't believe that he was giving up but before he knew what he was doing, he collapsed back on the mat, completely and utterly exhausted.

Haley watched as his whole face spasmed. Oh shit, she thought. She'd pushed him too far. But then she realised that he wasn't angry. He was laughing, and she breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Okay, okay, I give up. You've broken me," Nathan admitted, breathing in deeply as he tried to control his laughter.

Haley giggled along with him. "Giving up so easily?" she teased.

"Hey, I'll have you know that some psycho kicked me in the balls last night, so I'm injured. Cut me some slack!" Nathan said playfully and watched as Haley blushed, smiling when he saw her cheeks begin to colour over. It was quickly becoming his favourite pastime, making her blush like she was now.

Haley could feel her cheeks turning a deep shade of red and she bit down on her lip, moving her gaze away from Nathan for a beat before returning it to him. "Honestly, I'm so sorry about that. Did I hurt you?" she asked, feeling really bad.

"No, I mean, yes it hurt, but it's okay now. I'm sure I'll make a full recovery," Nathan responded, the teasing glint still present in his eyes.

"Good," Haley replied. She'd absolutely hate it if she'd caused him any permanent damage. It would be such a waste...

"Anyway, that was some warm up there, Haley," Nathan said as he puffed out a long breath.

Haley smiled at him as she put out her hand to help him up. "That's just for starters," she said. "Time for those abs."

Nathan was standing now, his body very close to Haley's, and their hands were clasped, as if they were about to dance. He licked his lips as he stared into her deep, brown eyes, a strange kind of electricity cackling in the air around them. It was all so new to him, this underlying tension and he didn't know what the hell he should do with it.

Haley couldn't help herself breathing in his aroma. He smelt absolutely delicious, manly and sexy and oh so tempting. Her eyes were locked in a heated gaze with his and she couldn't seem to move her eyes away again. She blushed as she literally had to tear her eyes away from him and watched a trickle of sweat drip down the dip in his neck, and quite suddenly, an image of her licking it away flashed into her head. Realising that this was most certainly not professional, she stepped quickly away from him, tripping over the large Pilates ball she hadn't seen behind her.

"So how come you know all this stuff?" Nathan asked causally. He could see the panic spreading through her body and he desperately wanted things to return to the easiness they'd had with each other before. Though he didn't want to, he knew he needed to change the subject and get them back on safer ground.

If he was aware of the way Haley felt, he wasn't letting it show, which she was very grateful for. "I've always been interested in keeping in shape. I did the training a while ago. It just came in handy for this job," she responded as she stood up straight again, moving the Pilates ball to the side so that she wouldn't trip over it again.

"And before that?" Nathan pressed, eager to learn more about her.

"Before?" Haley questioned, wondering why he wanted to know about her past. She didn't exactly want to reveal her secrets, not to someone she'd just met, even though she felt this strange, unnatural sense of trust with him.

"There's always a before," Nathan said, looking into her eyes. "The before that makes you so different to those other girls I've ever met."

Haley swallowed hard, blushing at his compliment, pleased that he found her to be different. If he'd have said she was just like Rachel, for example, she honestly thought she'd cry. "It's a long story."

But her desire to tell him everything was very strong. He seemed so easy to talk to. It was as if he were a friend, not the big boss of this boat. But, she reminded herself, he was the big boss. He owned this whole yacht, and God knows what else besides. How absurd to even think that she and Nathan could be friends. It was just a fantasy. Maybe if she'd stuck with her family, maybe if she hadn't run away from them, then maybe she might be able to entertain the idea that they could be friends, but not now. Yet she had to use all her concentration to get through the sets of abdominal exercises she'd planned for him.

Two minutes later, his phone rang. And kept ringing.

"Shouldn't you get that?" Haley asked as his ring tone mixed in with the music playing from her iPod.

"It can wait," Nathan said, knowing that it would most likely only be his father, and he certainly wasn't going to interrupt this session for his dad. "This is our time."

Our time. Haley liked the sound of that. And the fact that he was willing to ignore a potentially important call for her.

The remainder of their session flew by and Haley joined in with his last session of cardio on the bike. They ended sitting panting side by side on the bench in front of the mirror. She looked at his reflection in the mirror, admiring his exceptional body again. "Well done," she said, smiling at him. "Let me stretch you out."

Nathan watched as she stood behind him, still facing him in the mirror. Gently, she took his arm, put his elbow up by his ear and stretched his arm down his back. He groaned with pleasure again, she was really good at the stretching thing. His mind couldn't help but wonder what else she was good at. "I feel really different from how I do after a session with Owen," he said, his eyes connecting with hers in the mirror.

"Owen is pretty beefy, but that doesn't mean he's so strong. I'd bet you any money he couldn't do the workout you've just done," Haley said as she moved her eyes away from his, blushing and concentrating on stretching his arm out.

"Is it attractive, all that muscle?" Nathan asked, wondering if she was one of those girls who liked a ridiculous amount of muscle. If so then he was going to have to book in a fair few sessions with her, because although he was toned, he was no way near as muscular as Owen, and yet again, the want to please her rushed through his body.

Haley was surprised he asked her such a personal question. She didn't look up at him though, instead she moved around to his other arm and repeated the same action as before. "I'm sure it is to you. You wouldn't want a wimp for a bodyguard. But from a girls point of view – if that's what you mean – I think he looks a little bit ridiculous."

"So what's your type?" Nathan asked, ensuring that he listened to this very carefully. He wanted her to describe himself, he wanted to be all that she could ever want. He frowned as he realised this, why was he thinking like this? It wasn't like him at all.

You. You are my type. She thought to herself, and then blushed because she shouldn't be thinking that way about her boss. It was highly dangerous and completely ridiculous because it wasn't like anything could happen between them. She continued to stretch out his other arm, looking at the pattern of freckles on his shoulder, fighting back the urge to trace them with her fingertip. "I haven't really got one. I suppose I'll find out when-," she stopped. She hadn't meant to say so much.

"When...?" Nathan probed, highly interested in the rest of her sentence.

"When I fall in love... I guess," Haley shrugged and then raised her eyes to meet Nathan's in the mirror.

"You've never been in love?" Nathan asked, incredibly surprised by this admission of hers. She was so attractive, and so perfect, he couldn't believe that no one had snapped her up yet.

"Not really. Not properly. I mean I've had a few long-term relationships, but I guess I've always felt there was something more waiting for me. And so I never really committed. I always let other things get in the way... work... friends... life..." Haley trailed off, and scrunched up her face a little as she pondered whether she should say anymore. This conversation was far too serious to be discussing it with someone you just met, wasn't it?

"I know exactly what you mean," Nathan said. That was why he'd never committed to anyone properly before. Nothing had ever felt right between him and whatever girl he was seeing at the time. He hadn't had that feeling of being complete yet at all. "Go on..."

"I suppose I'm holding out for the feeling off knowing that spending the rest of my life without that person would be inconceivable. That's how I hope it feels anyway," Haley admitted. She'd never told anyone this before, yet she felt completely comfortable discussing it with Nathan. But then she wondered why she was telling him this? She never discussed her love life with anyone. So why was she discussing it with Nathan, her boss, of all people? "What about you? Have you... you know, ever been in love? Properly like that?" It was out before she'd even thought how intrusive it might sound.

Nathan felt the blood rush to his cheeks and he looked cursed himself for looking so bashful. "No, actually, I haven't," he confessed. But I want to, he added silently in his head.

"Sorry, it's none of my business," Haley said, moving away from him. Suddenly, talking like this and touching him seemed far too intimate. And besides, the session was now over.

But Nathan didn't move. "What?" he asked, searching out her eyes in the mirror. "You seem surprised?"

"I am, I mean... I can't believe you've never... I don't know. I would have thought you'd have..." Haley's voice trailed off to nothing. What could she say? He was absolutely gorgeous, and like her family, he had all this wealth at his fingertips. How could he not have been in love before?

"What?" Nathan asked, wondering what she was thinking, she looked far too pensive for his liking.

"Don't women fall over themselves when they see all this?" Haley asked, remembering what all the girls were like around her brother when they would holiday together. It was rather disgusting actually.

"Ah," Nathan said, wiping his face with a fresh towel. "That's just the problem. I don't want someone who wants all this."

She shook her head, confused by his admission. "Don't you like it?" she asked. Her brother absolutely loved it. He loved it all, the women, the money, the houses, the travel, the life… how could he not want all of that?

"I shouldn't be telling you this," Nathan said, turning to her. "In fact, I'm not quite sure why I am."

"Go on," Haley said, staring into his eyes, wanting to know more about him. Then she flicked her eyes to the surveillance camera. "I mean, this is private, right?" she reminded him.

"I don't know..." Nathan paused and glanced up at her, deciding in that moment to trust her. Besides he wanted her to see that this wasn't what he was about. Not at all. "I have this yacht for some business reason. My boss, well, he wanted this yacht to be sent back to America for his own use, until he found out that one of his rivals had a larger one. So he left it here and is now building himself a bigger one." He didn't want to admit that his boss was in fact his father, that would probably reveal far too much of himself, and maybe it might also make her look at him differently, which wasn't what he wanted at all.

"Bigger than this?" Haley asked, wondering if they actually made yachts bigger than the one she was currently on.

Nathan smiled at her. "A lot bigger. With its own submarine."

"Wow," Haley said, her eyes wide. A submarine? What the hell would someone need a submarine for? But she knew better than to pry, it was something she'd had ingrained in her from a very early age courtesy of her father.

"But I don't particularly enjoy being stuck on here. It's far too fussy for me.& It's all very well, but I'd prefer to do my own cooking, you know, things like that. But you mustn't tell anyone," Nathan said with a grin.

"You're joking?" Haley responded. She couldn't exactly imagine Nathan cooking, so she was taken completely by surprise.

Nathan shook his head, his brow still glistening with beads of sweat. "No. I've got this place in the hills in Ibiza. That's much more my scene. I have this woman who comes in once a day and leaves me fresh ingredients. Then I can get on with it myself," he said, hoping that she would be impressed with him. He'd love to cook her a romantic dinner, get to know all her secrets, share some of his own…

"It sounds heavenly," Haley responded in a distant voice, imagining herself up in that villa in the hills of lush Ibiza.

"Maybe I'll take you there some time," Nathan replied, looking right into Haley's eyes. He'd said it before he'd thought properly about what he was going to say, the breathy way she'd just spoken turning him on slightly. He suddenly embarrassed and looked away, shifting himself into a more comfortable and less obvious position.

Haley knew such an offer was preposterous. But her heart still thumped hard against her chest. She bit down on her lip as the silence between them lengthened. She couldn't look at him now. She wasn't sure what would happen if she did. One look might give her away. One look might acknowledge the insane sexual tension between them. And the fact that they'd just got way too intimate and possibly shared some secrets that might have been better kept under wraps.

"I should..." Nathan said, filling the uncomfortable silence as he looked down at his watch.

"Oh," Haley said, looking up and taking her cue. "Yes, I should... you know... get along too." She cleared her throat, focussing on sounding professional once more. "That was a really good session. You should be proud of yourself. You did great."

"Can we do it again sometime?" Nathan asked, rolling his eyes at the childlike voice which had just come out of his mouth. But he couldn't help it, he really wanted to be alone with her again, and as soon as possible at that.

"Of course. Whenever you want," Haley said, smiling at the fact that he wanted to have another session. At least he must have thought she was up to the job. At least she wasn't going to be thrown off the Sognatore, which had been her biggest fear.

Nathan nodded at smiled back at her, before remembering the trouble he'd been having before this session with Haley. "What I actually want right now is for someone to fix my damn email, but I guess you can't help me with that?"

Haley smiled bashfully, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Well, it's funny you should mention that, but yes, maybe I can..."

**AN – Please do let us know what you thought of the chapter by dropping us a review.**

**We will be sending out teasers to those of you that want them as soon as we can so let us know in a review if you want it.**

**Next update will be on 10****th**** May.**


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